Post Ruinam
by Advocaat
Summary: They've changed since the fall of Cocoon. Serah was never so wise nor Snow prone to introspection. And Hope… Sometimes, when she looks at him, she swears she sees another person looking back.
1. Chapter 1

Well, well, well. Look who's back with a new story after all this time. I apparently have a habit of writing lengthy stories for mostly-dead fandoms. I told myself again and again that I wouldn't do this, and yet, here we are. In my defense, this was never supposed to become long, but what can I say? When it rains, it pours.

This story is set after the events of the first game, which is a first for me as I generally write in the Lightning Returns canon, but you'll still want to have played all three games in order to fully appreciate it. I wrote this over the course of several months so it's actually finished already. (Yay!) I'll be editing and making revisions chapter by chapter as I post them.

I took a few creative liberties with the setting. I'm pretty sure it's mentioned at some point that there are no seasons or daytime/nighttime on Pulse (I honestly can't remember), but I decided that was silly so I included them. It may be easier on the programmers to have a static world but it's a pain in the bum to write. I doubt many people will care, though, so this message is mainly for the nitpickers. I see you, Brosef.

Welp, that's all from me. Enjoy the story.

* * *

 **Post Ruinam**

 _Gran Pulse_

 _Six months after the fall of Cocoon_

Lightning huffed in irritation as she shucked her winter coat and scarf. She could still hear the wind howling just beyond the wooden portal at her back and her body gave an involuntary shiver as melting ice slid from her hair onto the back of her neck. She cursed grumpily under her breath and gave the garments a brief shake to dislodge the snow before hanging them on a peg beside Snow's enormous trench coat. Inside her boots, her frozen toes wiggled in an effort to reestablish circulation. _I hate winter,_ she mentally groused as she left the door behind and trudged toward the living room where light was still shining despite the late hour. It had been another long day of grueling patrols out on the wild Pulse frontier and thanks to a particularly troublesome pack of hungry gorgonopsids her shift had run an hour overtime. Now she was tired, hungry, and freezing and all she wanted in the world was to get some hot food into her belly and go to bed.

 _Six months,_ she grumbled in her head as she pushed the door open to the living room. _And we're still securing our borders_.

They'd known progress would be slow. Gran Pulse was untamed and dangerous and most of cocoon's citizens didn't know the first thing about defending themselves. Between keeping the newly established settlements safe and the push to expand their borders, the Guardian Corps, now combined with what remained of PSICOM after the fall of the Sanctum, had their work cut out for them.

Lightning sighed and closed her eyes as blessed heat from the room's kerosene stove washed over her. She barely noticed when a steaming mug of hot milk was placed in her hands and she only opened her eyes when she felt a heavy blanket being tucked around her shoulders. A mop of silver hair and mint colored irises met her eyes briefly before their owner turned away and padded to the small kitchenette to heap a ladleful of something that smelled heavenly into a bowl from a large pot on the stove.

"Hope," she uttered the name tiredly when her young comrade returned to her side to usher her to the table with a gloved hand on the small of her back. He set the bowl in front of her and handed her a spoon. "You should be in bed." The reprimand was half-hearted at best. She honestly couldn't care less about her young companion's sleep schedule but she figured it counted for something to at least make an effort to play the part of the responsible guardian.

Hope seemed to understand this because he didn't bother defending himself. Instead, he simply said, "You'll be happy to know Serah cooked tonight. She took over for Snow when we heard that you'd be back late. Thought you'd want to come home to something palatable."

Lightning made a grateful noise in the back of her throat as she scooped a generous mouthful of rice and beans onto her spoon and took a bite. The dish was warm and spicy and exactly what she needed. "She's already asleep, I'm guessing. Remind me to thank her tomorrow." She scooped another spoonful into her mouth and chewed contentedly as warmth continued to seep into her from the combination of the heater, blanket, and food. She made a mental note to double up on tights tomorrow.

Hope took a seat across from her and his gloved fingers drummed the table absently as he stared off across the room to the large window where flurries of white flakes were illuminated against the darkness by the glow of the lamp.

"How was school, by the way?" she deigned to speak again after a few moments' comfortable silence. Were her company anyone else, she would've been perfectly content to let the silence persist, but Hope was one of a very short list of people with whom she actually enjoyed conversing.

Hope moved his gaze from the window back to her face. "Fine," he answered plainly. His lips quirked into a small, amused-looking smile and he added, "Serah keeps things interesting. Just about every guy in my class has a crush on her."

Lightning paused in bringing another mouthful of rice to her lips to make a show of rolling her eyes. Serah had begun interning at their local school with the hope of one day becoming a certified teacher. Lightning wasn't at all surprised to hear that her sister was popular with the adolescent boys. "I hope you saved them the heartbreak by telling them she's taken."

Hope laughed. "And give up all the envy points I've scored by being close to her?" He waved a hand in front of his face. "Not a chance. Anyway, they're bound to find out soon enough, the way Snow goes on about her to everyone he meets. And watching them fall all over themselves to impress her is my one source of entertainment."

Lightning set her spoon in the bowl. "I keep saying the coursework is too easy for you."

Hope shrugged and rested his elbows on the table to prop his chin atop his palms. "Yeah, well, apparently Dad agrees because he told me today that he's planning to have the Academy take over my schooling."

This caused Lightning to arch a brow. "Bartholomew came by?"

Hope nodded. His silver hair bobbed with the motion. "He and Rygdea stopped by to talk to Sazh about looking at some old Pulsian airships the Academy happened upon during their last scouting mission—according to their mechanics, the ships might still be functional. I know I don't need to tell you how hurting we are for technology." He shook his head, seeming to realize that he was getting off track. "Anyway, you know how fast the Academy is growing. They've gathered up the best and the brightest from every corner of Cocoon and naturally Dad is going to take advantage of his position as Director to get his son the very best education available. Ah—but don't worry. I'll still be allowed to live here with everyone. He said he thought it would be best not to 'uproot' me."

Lightning considered this bit of news as she finished the last few bites of her meal and nursed her mug of milk. It came as no surprise to her that Bartholomew had finally made the decision to pull Hope from their hastily slapped together public school. The place barely qualified as a learning facility—more like a glorified daycare meant to keep Cocoon's youth out of trouble while the adults figured out how to rebuild society from the ground up. It was never in any way a fit for Hope and Lightning was pleased to hear that her young comrade would soon be getting the education he deserved. Hope was a bright kid. Brighter than any of them had anticipated, to be sure. He had a good head for math and a gift for engineering and as the months passed, it became increasingly apparent to Lightning that he was destined for greatness, one way or another.

The blue-eyed soldier smiled slightly and set her spoon down to lean back in her chair. "It sounds like the change will be a positive one. The Academy will be a much better fit for you. You were just going to end up being recruited by the Guardian Corps after graduation if you stayed at that school."

Hope lifted his head to reposition his chin onto the backs of his knuckles. He regarded her with bright eyes overtop the gloved digits. His pale eyebrows rose a fraction. "Think I couldn't cut it as a soldier?"

Lightning didn't answer right away. She took a long pull from her mug, all the while keeping her eyes on Hope's. He was wearing an expression that had become increasingly common on him of late. Though, to be honest, it wasn't really an expression so much as a particular look in his eyes. He watched her with a gaze that was steady and patient but that also carried an odd kind of intensity that nearly felt like a challenge. Lightning had yet to figure out how to respond to it so she left it unanswered. "I think you could," she said at last. "But I also think it would be a pitiable waste of your talents."

Hope laughed for the second time that night. "Right. Well, if you feel that strongly then I guess a second opinion isn't really needed." He raised a hand to stifle a yawn and stood from his chair. "I'm gonna hit the hay. I really just stayed up to make sure you got some food in you before you collapsed into bed—don't make that face at me, you've done it enough times now that Serah's started to worry." He pushed in his chair and walked around the table toward the stairs, pausing briefly to brush her shoulder with his hand as he passed.

Lightning followed his retreating form with her eyes. Blandly, she wondered just when it was that the role of caretaker had switched from her to him.

She exhaled a sigh as the exposed fingers of her right hand found the spot on her shoulder where Hope had touched her. The flesh there tingled and a frown pulled at her lips. Unbidden, she thought of how he'd looked at her mere moments before. There was intent both in his eyes then and in his touch just now, but it was too subtle…or perhaps too well masked to get a good read on.

Lightning let those thoughts drift away as the exhaustion that had been temporarily held at bay by food came rushing back with a vengeance. She'd have plenty of time to contemplate the curiosities of her comrades later. Now, she needed sleep.

o0o

The days continued to pass without much change. Lightning was kept busy with her patrols. Occasionally, one of the others would join her when she was given a task that required more hands. Usually it was Snow, but sometimes Sazh or Hope would be the one to tag along. The people had a healthy respect for all the ex-l'Cie after what had gone down six months prior and they knew there wasn't a soul alive who knew the Pulse wilderness better.

Monster attacks occurred with less frequency in the cold winter months, so Lightning often found herself stuck on long patrols with nothing to occupy her. It was boring and tedious and generally seemed like more trouble than it was worth, except for the fact that it was absolutely worth it for the rare occasions when a group of Pulse nasties would decide that the human settlements were too tempting a treat to be ignored.

Lightning pulled her scarf more tightly around her face to block the chill as she kept an eye on a pack of wyverns that were soaring just a little too close to the edge of the town to be comfortable. Normally, wyverns were smart enough to stay away, but prey was scarce in the cold season and hunger had a way of making one bold. It was a trait shared by monsters and humans alike.

It was during these long hours of virtually nothing to occupy her when Lightning's mind would inevitably start to wander. This was dangerous, not only because she risked losing focus on her job, but also because, as minds are wont to do, hers would drift to just the sorts of matters she kept herself busy precisely to avoided thinking about. Matters such as her sister's wedding, which would take place in the coming spring, as well as certain emotional—and physical—needs of her own which she'd succeeded in ignoring quite capably for the past six years.

Now that Serah was safe and happy and no longer depended on her for survival, Lightning was finally being forced to look at her own life and at last decide what it was she wanted from it. That meant considering things like her career, her friendships, and, she suppressed a shudder at so much as thinking the word, potential romantic relationships.

Lightning didn't detest the idea of dating, exactly, but that was a scene she'd never properly entered and possessed little knowledge of. The few brushes she'd had with romance, mainly one-sided advances made by coworkers during her training days, had served only to leave her feeling aggravated and objectified. Lightning had never had a large reserve of patience and the list of people she tolerated was only slightly longer than that of those she enjoyed talking to.

 _You just haven't found the right guy yet,_ her sister had told her when she'd expressed her reservations about dating several weeks back. _Someday, you're going to find a person who you can just be yourself around and it won't be about tolerating them. They'll be someone whose company you enjoy enough that you'll look forward to spending time with them_.

Lightning exhaled a short sigh and slipped her freezing fingers out of the fingers of her gloves to curl them against her palms for warmth. It was easy enough for Serah to say that she would eventually find a man she enjoyed being with, but so far, her prospects hadn't seemed so promising. There was certainly no shortage of available men within the ranks of the Guardian Corps, but Lightning preferred to keep a firm separation between her personal life and work and she really wasn't comfortable with the idea of dating a coworker. Then there was the matter of her own prickliness, as Serah put it. Lightning just didn't have much patience for small talk and that made getting to know others tricky. If someone had something meaningful to say, she'd listen. But she had no interest in hearing strangers speak about themselves or answering their polite questions about her own life.

On the one hand, Lightning thought she could be perfectly content to spend her life alone. She had her sister and her friends, and once Snow and Serah got married it likely wouldn't be long before little nieces and nephews started popping up. There would be no shortage of love in her life. But on the other hand, was she really okay with never knowing the love of a partner? Never experiencing the touch of a man? She was twenty-one—nearly twenty-two—and she'd never been kissed; never experienced the kind of love a woman feels for a man. Six months of watching her sister be over-the-moon happy with her fiancé and having witnessed the lengths Snow was willing to go to in order to save Serah from her fate caused Lightning to feel a pang of something like longing to know that kind of devotion. The thought made her scoff. She'd never thought she'd be jealous of _Snow_.

At her hip, her GC-issue communicator beeped. Lightning pushed her fingers back into her gloves and plucked it from her belt. She hit the flashing green button and lifted the device to her ear. "Lightning reporting. What's up?"

There was a crackle of static and then Snow's voice was relayed through the speaker. "Hey, Sis. The general wants you to come in. There's been a…um…situation."

The hesitation in Snow's delivery was not lost on her. "What kind of a situation?" she asked. Her eyes travelled up to the wyverns she'd been monitoring and her eyebrows furrowed.

"Remember three weeks ago when that scout went missing? You know, the one from the survey team that was setting up an outpost over in the Yaschas Massif?"

Lightning did. The case had been a real head-scratcher. There hadn't been any signs of either attack or accident. The man simply went out to scout as usual and never came back. "What, did they finally find him?"

There was another crackle and Lightning could hear unintelligible fragments of a conversation happening somewhere in the background on Snow's end. "The opposite, actually," her soon-to-be brother-in-law answered. "The whole team's vanished."

Lightning's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "The whole team? You're kidding me."

"I wish I were. I can hardly believe it myself. Anyway, the general's called for a meeting—he'll explain everything then. Just get back here A-sap."

Lightning sighed and mentally prepared to make the long trek back to base. "Roger. I'll be there in forty minutes." She hit the end button on the transceiver and hooked it back onto her belt.

A whole outpost, vanished. Lightning had never heard a story more absurd. _How does an entire camp of soldiers go missing?_

Well, she thought wryly as she trudged through the snow toward the town, if she was being called in to hear the details, then one thing was for sure: one way or another, she was about to find out.

o0o

The base was packed and abuzz with chatter when Lightning finally arrived thirty-eight minutes later. At the head of the large briefing room, she could see General Caragan speaking with his second in command, Lieutenant-General Rygdea. Rygdea saw her enter and tossed her a smile. Lightning nodded to him before ducking into the crowd to take her place.

Snow was easy enough to spot with his height and recognizable bandana. He was talking with Sazh, who had grease stains on his face and looked like he'd been busy in the hangar when he'd received the order to assemble. Beside them, Hope stood quietly looking like he was half-listening to them as his eyes travelled back and forth over the pages of a large, heavy-looking textbook. Lightning was grateful to see the fifteen-year-old because it meant she wouldn't have to stand next to Snow and inevitably get dragged into conversation.

Hope glanced up as she slipped into position beside him. "Hey, Light. You made it," he greeted somewhat distractedly as he pulled a pencil from behind his ear and circled a word before scribbling a note in the margin.

Lightning watched him with a raised eyebrow. "What's that? Homework?"

It took the silver-haired boy a moment to answer as he crossed out a word and wrote a different word above it. "Hm? Ah, no. This a copy of an old Pulsian encyclopedia of aeronautical engineering Dad's team managed to scrounge up in Oerba." His pencil hovered just over the page, following the path of his eyes down the line of text before it stopped at another word. He tapped the graphite tip twice against the paper thoughtfully before underlining the word and penning a question mark beside it. "R&D has been looking into building ships that can fly using petroleum and other natural fuel sources by reengineering Sanctum aircrafts to be compatible with ancient Pulsian combustion engines. Problem is, while the transition should work in theory, in every test the fuel has burned up too quickly."

Lightning hummed and brought a hand to her chin. "You're saying they're inefficient."

Hope nodded. "Precisely. The question is _why_? While it's true that Cocoon aircrafts are generally more powerful than their Pulsian cousins, the large disparity in their fuel consumption rates doesn't make any sense. I was hoping I might find something in here that could shed light on the problem."

Lightning crossed her arms and shifted her weight onto her left hip. "Well, any light-shedding is going to have to be put on hold for the moment. It looks like Caragan is ready to get this thing started."

All chatter in the room promptly ceased as the general stood from his chair and cleared his throat. General Caragan was the sort of man who, despite his mild disposition, commanded an immense amount of respect from his subordinates. He was fair and level-headed and it was largely thanks to his leadership that the people's transition from Cocoon to Gran Pulse had gone as smoothly as it did. Everyone in the room listened attentively as he began the meeting.

"I thank you all for gathering on such short notice," he spoke. His voice was clear and even. "As most of you are no doubt aware by now, there's been an incident in the Yaschas Massif involving the team we sent to construct an outpost there. Forty-eight hours ago, we stopped receiving communications from their camp, and just two hours ago, we received word from our recon squad that the camp currently sits empty; not a man or woman to be found anywhere in the vicinity."

An excited murmur swept through the room. It died as quickly as it began, though, as everyone was eager to hear the details. Caragan's eyes travelled over the faces of his subordinates and connected briefly with Lightning's own before he spoke again. "There was no evidence to suggest a struggle and nothing to explain why the entire encampment would suddenly decide to leave all at once without informing headquarters. Moreover, the report I received from the recon squad described the camp as appearing 'in every way operational'. That is to say, nothing had been packed away with the intention of relocating. Personal belongings such as clothing and grooming products were left behind. It is a case that echoes very closely the disappearance of Sgt. Learny three weeks ago."

Another murmur arose at the mention of the vanished sergeant which the general allowed. He paused for several seconds before continuing. "It is neither my belief nor Lieutenant-General Rygdea's that these soldiers merely departed on a whim. There is undoubtedly an outside force at work here. I want each and every one of you to remain alert and on guard at all times, as there is no way of knowing if these vanishing episodes are limited exclusively to the massif. Naturally, we will do everything in our power to locate the missing team and uncover the truth of the matter before whatever it is can become a danger to Cocoon's citizens."

Lightning knew what Caragan's next words would be before his eyes even had time to travel back to hers. In cases where supernatural forces may be involved, there was only one team he would hand the job of investigating to.

"This brings us to the matter of the investigation. Because there is a high probability that we may be dealing with some form of Pulsian sorcery, I'm putting the investigation in the hands of Special Response Team Lambda. Sergeant Farron," he called on her, drawing the room's eyes to the small band of ex-l'Cie. "You and your team are to remain here after the meeting to receive your briefing. All others are free to go."

Lightning felt a brush on her hand as the room erupted into chatter and the other soldiers began shuffling toward the door. She looked to her side to see Hope looking up at her with a twinkle in his eye. "A field-trip. Lucky us."

Lightning exhaled a short huff of amusement and lifted an arm to cuff him lightly on the shoulder. "Who said you're even going? Something tells me Bartholomew is going to have words with Rygdea about sending his son out to a place where soldiers have been vanishing with no explanation."

Hope shook his head and his eyes became serious. "I'm going," he said firmly. We ex-l'Cie stick together. Dad knows I won't be told to stay behind." The conviction in his wintergreen eyes as he stared levelly into her own caused something inside Lightning to tighten. She wondered if he knew how jarring that gaze of his was.

Regardless, she was glad to hear him say so, because she hadn't been relishing the thought of trekking all the way out to the massif with just Snow and Sazh and whatever small escort of GC soldiers were sent along with them for company. Hope was unquestionably her favorite travelling partner. He didn't grate on her the way Snow did and he didn't try to pick her apart as Sazh was wont to do. He knew when to talk and when to leave her in peace and which buttons he could get away with pressing. Being around him didn't drain her social stamina and that had made him an invaluable asset during their initial journey across Gran Pulse back when they were still l'Cie.

"Right," she allowed. "Well, as long as your dad's okay with it, I won't stop you."

The briefing that followed took about twenty minutes. Rygdea was the one to provide it and the ex-l'Cie listened attentively as he went over the specifics of the mission. They would be escorted by Rygdea himself along with a small squadron of officers of his choosing to the massif where they would rendezvous with the recon squad still at the outpost. The outpost would become their base of operations during their investigation and search for the missing team. Lieutenant Rocher of the recon squad had been instructed to remain at the outpost and maintain regular radio contact with headquarters in order to provide updates on the mission.

"Unfortunately, we don't have anything approaching a timeframe for how long this is going to take," Rygdea said, shaking his head with a sigh. "The goal is to find the missing the team, and that could take anywhere from hours to weeks. You'll want to make certain you're prepared." He nodded to Hope. "Go talk to your dad, yeah? This mission won't be without danger and he'll be havin' some words for you, I'm sure." He turned to Lightning and Snow and Sazh next. "And you three do what you gotta. The GC will keep an eye on Serah and Dajh while you're gone, but know that it'll likely be some time before you see 'em again."

Snow nodded. He looked uncharacteristically solemn. "Of course."

Sazh shook his head and exhaled a long sigh. "Here we go again. The universe always has _something_ in store for us, doesn't it." He looked at Snow and cracked a ghost of a smile. "'Least I know Dajh'll be in good hands."

Snow answered him with a grin. "The best. Serah'll keep him safe. And NORA, too. They'll be having so much fun, he won't even miss you."

Sazh snorted but his smile broadened at Snow's reassurance.

Lightning nudged Hope with her hip. When he looked at her curiously, she said softly, "You should stay with your dad tonight. He'll appreciate it."

Hope hesitated briefly but then he nodded. "Alright. I'll meet you guys back here tomorrow for departure."

Lightning smiled and lifted a hand to ruffle his hair. "Just don't be late or I really will leave you behind."

As the group disbanded to take care of their own personal business in preparation for their trip to the massif, Lightning hung back and looked up at the cloud-choked sky. She let out a long sigh and shook her head. Just what she needed: a wilderness camping adventure in the middle of winter. She prayed to whatever higher power might be listening to give her patience in the days to come. She could sense already that she was going to need it.

oO0Oo

* * *

First chapter down. Twelve to go. I swear I didn't plan for this story to come out to thirteen chapters. That was just a happy accident.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Serah woke early to prepare a huge breakfast. When Lightning came down the stairs, she was greeted by a table covered in platters of pancakes, plates of sausages and eggs, and a large bowl of fried potatoes. She raised an eyebrow at her sister as she walked into the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee.

"I wanted to make sure you had a scrumptious breakfast to send you off," Serah explained. "It'll probably be a while until you guys will get to eat a home-cooked meal again. I've seen those calorie bars you put down when you're on the road."

Lightning smiled at that. "Yeah. Military food has never been in danger of winning any culinary awards."

Now sporting a nice full mug of coffee, she returned to the table and took a seat. The food smelled fantastic and her empty stomach gave a short growl. She pulled the plate of eggs toward her and began spooning the spiced yellow mush onto her plate. A moment later, Serah walked out of the kitchen carrying a mug of her own.

"It'll be quiet around here with you and the guys gone," she said as she slipped into the seat across from Lightning—the one Hope normally occupied. She smiled down at her cup. "I'll have so much free time. I might have to take up a hobby."

Lightning let out a short chuckle. "We're not going to be gone that long," she assured her sister. The statement wasn't entirely fact—they didn't know how long it would take to locate the missing survey team, after all—but Lightning was going to do her darnedest to finish the mission quickly and get back home to Serah. She had no intention of suffering through a long, drawn-out search and rescue operation in the middle of winter. "But if you're desperate for something to occupy you, you might consider knitting. Dajh and Hope need new gloves."

It was Serah's turn to laugh as she wrapped her small hands tightly around the warm mug. "Noted." She looked up at Lightning and her expression softened. "You really take good care of those boys." She gave her sister a tender smile. "You've become like a mother to them. Though you always were a softy when it came to kids."

Lightning's hand stilled in the middle of bringing a forkful of eggs to her mouth. Like a mother? Something about that statement caused a feeling of discomfiture to well up from a place she couldn't put her finger on. She lowered her fork and fought the grimace that tried to sneak onto her face. "I'm hardly what you'd call maternal," she denied with a shake of her head. "Dajh has all the parent he needs in Sazh. And Hope…" she trailed off, feeling oddly awkward about the whole matter. Perhaps her treatment of the young teenager could be seen as motherly, but she definitely didn't see him as anything approaching a child of hers. "Just, no," she said at last.

Serah regarded her curiously over her mug. She wore an odd look that Lightning had never seen on her before.

The older Farron stopped herself from looking away to escape the weight of her sister's strange scrutiny. "What?" she asked instead, her tone just the slightest hint defensive in her own ears. She fought the urge to frown. She had nothing to feel defensive about. Her sister wasn't accusing her of anything and there was nothing to accuse anyway.

Serah just shook her head and took a sip from her mug. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

Despite her own rationalizing just before, Serah's answer left Lightning feeling unsettled. She shook the feeling off and focused instead on her cooling plate of eggs. Where were Sazh and Snow, anyway? They were going to miss out on Serah's lovingly cooked breakfast.

As if summoned by her thoughts, she heard the thudding of footfalls from the stairs. A moment later, Sazh appeared flanked by Dajh. She could hear Snow not far behind.

"Mmm. Are those pancakes I smell?" Sazh asked as he and his son made their way to the table.

Serah smiled broadly in greeting. "Sure are," she answered. "I was just telling Light that I wanted to make sure you guys could fill your bellies with good food before you set off."

"Serah, I swear you're an angel," Snow's voice joined the conversation just as the rest of him appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He wasted no time in striding over to his bride-to-be and leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. Serah laughed at the scratch of his whiskers and motioned to the kitchen. "There's coffee in the pot. Go get some before it gets cold."

Lightning finished her eggs quietly as her sister traded morning pleasantries with the boys. For once, she was glad to have her sister's attention averted from her. Something about Serah's expression before just wasn't sitting right with her. It was too knowing. Not a good look to be on the receiving end of when one wasn't sure what there was to know.

Her meal finished, Lightning quickly cleared her plate away and excused herself to finish packing up her things. They would be leaving in half an hour and she had no intention of making her superior wait.

o0o

Hope was waiting for them at the base, just as promised. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his long winter coat and his face was half hidden in a thick muffler wrapped snuggly around his neck. Bartholomew, Rygdea, and the officers Lightning assumed would be their escort stood with him. A group of saddled and bridled chocobos scratched at the dirt and fluttered their feathers a few paces away. Lightning slipped quietly into her usual position beside Hope.

When everyone was in place, Rygdea gave them a short recap of the mission and outlined the schedule for the day's travel. The trip out to the massif would take three days, assuming they didn't encounter any unfortunate weather. Members of the recon team would be waiting at the entrance to the massif to guide them to the outpost. It was imperative that they stick together, and this, Rygdea stressed. Because they didn't know what was responsible for the survey team's disappearance, they had to assume that they could come under attack at any time. "Luckily, you lot are less susceptible to magical mumbo jumbo than the rest of us," he reminded them. "We'll be counting on you to keep a look out for anything strange along the way."

Really, that particular point went without saying, but Lightning nodded anyway. It wasn't a secret that their higher than average magical resistance was why they'd been chosen for this mission.

When Rygdea had finished, it was at last time to say goodbye. Lightning joined Snow in saying a final farewell to Serah and promised again to be back as soon as possible. Serah wound her arms around Lightning's neck and pulled her in close. "Stay safe out there," her sister bade. "And look after the boys for me. Make sure they don't get into trouble."

Lightning pulled back and made a show of scoffing. "Sure. And I'll raise Cocoon back into the sky while I'm at it."

Serah laughed at her sister's dry humor and gave her one more hug before leaving her to say her goodbyes to Snow. Lightning turned around to go to her chocobo when she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She looked back to find Bartholomew regarding her with an expectant look.

"Lightning," he started, "I know this isn't something I have to tell you, but keep an eye on Hope for me, won't you? I know he can look after himself, but I worry."

Lightning gave the man a rare smile. "Of course. Anything that even thinks of laying a hand on him will have to get through all of us first. You have my word on that."

Bartholomew returned her smile and nodded. "Thank you."

Farewells made, the group headed for their chocobos. Lightning expertly hoisted herself into the saddle and gave the large bird an affectionate pat on its feathery neck before checking her team. Everyone was mounted and ready. She gave a final wave to Serah as Rygdea gave the signal to move out.

 _Be safe, Serah. We'll be home before you know it._

o0o

The ride out to the massif was long and cold and generally miserable. The group stayed huddled together in a tight pack to ward off the wind chill. Their entourage was amicable enough, in Lightning's opinion. The group consisted of four privates, two fellow sergeants, and a lieutenant Lightning had worked under once before by the name of Comelin. They struck Lightning as a capable group, well-picked for the mission. Even the privates were disciplined and appeared to carry some experience under their belts. The group was friendly but not overly chatty, which Lightning was immediately appreciative of.

Lightning spent most of the ride alongside Snow, Sazh, and Hope. It was a bit nostalgic to be riding across Gran Pulse on the backs of chocobos with the three of them. Just like old times…save for the fact that two of their number were missing. She directed her gaze to Cocoon's crystal pillar, standing like a frozen waterfall against the sky far off across the Archylte Steppe, and took a moment to privately mourn the loss of Fang and Vanille whose freedom had been sacrificed to save the people of Cocoon. Someday, she hoped they would find a way to free them.

As per Rygdea's estimate, it took three days to reach the outpost. Right on schedule, they were met by two scouts at the entrance to the massif who led them along the familiar craggy expanse to where the now vanished survey team had chosen to lay their base of operations. The outpost, despite its name, was really more a glorified camp still. Makeshift huts were set up sporadically, powered by mobile generators and heated with kerosene stoves. And just as they'd been warned, it was disturbingly devoid of life. Aside from the recon squad which had taken up residence there just a few days prior, the place looked like a ghost camp. Most of the huts stood empty and there were no soldiers milling about. Snow whistled as their guides led them through the camp to the somewhat larger dwelling that housed command. "Charming place," she heard him mutter under his breath.

The meeting with what currently functioned as 'command' was brief. The officer in charge, Lieutenant Rocher—a sharp-looking woman just a few years Lightning's senior—was quick in getting them up to speed on the situation.

"As you can see, we're the only ones here," she reported, leaning casually against the control dock the housed the camp's radio equipment. It was immediately clear to Lightning that the woman was bored out of her mind babysitting an empty camp. Lightning didn't blame her. "I've sent scouts out to look for clues, of course, but there's only so much ground we could cover with a team of our size and a whole lotta' nothing out there to pick through. We can only pray you'll have better luck."

Rygdea placed a thoughtful hand on his chin. "So, there hasn't been a single sign a' the missin' team? No trails to follow or clues left behind?"

The woman sighed tiredly and raked a hand through her pale blonde tresses. "Any trails were gone long before we got here. Footprints don't last real long when you've got snowstorms popping up with a fine…" her gaze found Hope and she cleared her throat, "hello every ten minutes."

Lightning's lips twitched. 'Hello' was definitely not the greeting she'd been about to toss out.

"And as for clues," she continued, "we haven't found a one. "No struggle, no record of orders issued, no notes left by any of the soldiers, no ransom…"

"They were here and then they weren't," Snow summed up, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

"Right," Rocher confirmed. She closed her hands into loose fists and brought them up to face level before flicking her fingers outward. "Poof."

Lightning took the silence that followed the lieutenant's sarcastic display as an invitation to insert herself into the conversation. "Then it looks like we've got our work cut out for us." She turned to Rygdea. "With your permission, we'll begin our search first thing tomorrow morning."

Rygdea nodded. Turning back to the lieutenant, he said, "If you can, I'd like a map of the places your men've already searched along with any relevant information they can provide. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we want to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible."

After the meeting, Rocher had the scouts who'd escorted them show them to the huts where they would be staying for the duration of the mission. Lightning was equal parts surprised and pleased to learn she'd be in a hut by herself. This was due, as she found out soon enough, to there being only three females in the whole camp, herself included, and the other two, Lieutenant Rocher and one of the two sergeants under her command, were already sharing a small, two-bed abode. The boys, on the other hand, were not so lucky. Snow, Hope, and Sazh would be sharing a three-bunkbed barrack with two of the privates and one of the sergeants from their escort—a placement Sazh made sure to grumble about that night at dinner.

"The six of us packed in like sardines and soldier girl over here gets a whole hut to herself. There's just no justice in the world. No justice at all." The green-clad pilot made a show of crossing his arms and shaking his head.

Snow clapped him on the back. "Cheer up, old-timer. The more the merrier, right? I'll bet even Light'll get a little jealous when she sees all the fun we're having." He leaned over to nudge a distracted Hope with his elbow. "Right, Hope?"

Hope, who had been sitting quietly with his Pulsian encyclopedia of aeronautical engineering open in his lap and feeding himself occasional spoonfuls of reconstituted potatoes glanced up just long enough to not quite reach Snow with his eyes before looking back down at the book. "Mm."

Snow laughed again. "See that? Even Hope agrees."

Lightning rolled her eyes and pushed the tines of her fork into the soft flesh of an overcooked carrot. She gave the vegetable an unimpressed look, already missing her sister's cooking.

"But man, strange to think that a place like this could become deserted overnight," Sazh switched topics. He cast his gaze pointedly around the nearly empty mess hut. The vacant tables and benches stared blankly back. There were a handful of Rygdea's soldiers sparsely dotting the large room and they were the only thing taking the edge off the eeriness of the place. "Really gives you the shivers thinkin' about it."

Finally, Hope looked up from his book. Lightning watched his pale eyes scan the room briefly before landing on Sazh. "About that," he spoke up properly for the first time that evening. "What do you think the odds are of us actually finding the missing team? Three weeks ago, when that first soldier went missing, they searched for a week straight and found nothing. Who's to say our luck will be any better?"

Lightning knew that Hope wasn't doubting their abilities so much as playing devil's advocate. It was a fair point—one none of them had a good answer to—and Lightning gladly rose to the challenge. "Because this group of eggheads doesn't know the meaning of the word defeat. That's why."

Across from her, Snow whistled and slapped his hand onto the table. " _That's_ what I'm talkin' about!"

Sazh lifted his hands palm-upwards beside his shoulders and shook his head. "She's got us there."

Hope cracked a smile and shut his book with a soft thud before setting it aside. "L'Cie magic or no l'Cie magic, I suppose it'd be foolish to start doubting us now." He drummed his fingers on the cover of the book and Lightning's eyes were drawn to the habitual motion executed thoughtlessly. The movement of his fingers was strangely compelling.

She was pulled from her study of her young companion's gloves by a yawn from Sazh. "Well, I don't know about you kids, but I think it's time for this old man to cash in his chips for today. Something tells me there won't be much opportunity for resting tomorrow and us old people need our beauty sleep."

"Sleep all you want, but I don't think it's gonna do anything for that face of yours," Snow joked, pointing his fork at the other man.

Sazh mock huffed. "Oh, yeah. Poke fun at the forty-year-old. Just you wait, someday your face is gonna look like mine and Hope here'll be the one makin' jokes."

Hope raised an eyebrow at that. "I'm fifteen, not two."

Lightning heard a chuckle across the room and out of the corner of her eye she saw a couple of the other soldiers watching their interaction with amusement. She felt her cheeks heat slightly and she redirected her focus toward clearing her tray away. Perhaps she would follow Sazh's lead and turn in early. Better that than suffer getting caught by fellow GC engaging in silliness. She had a reputation to uphold, after all.

As she walked around the table to return her tray, Hope's hand found her elbow, stopping her in her tracks. "You're going to bed, too?" he questioned. His eyes were trained upward to meet her own.

"Yeah," she answered, somewhat thrown off guard by the way those green eyes bored into hers. He really ought to look in a mirror, she thought. "Why? Did you need something?"

He closed his eyes, breaking their hold on her and shook his head. "No, nothing." He opened them again and gave her elbow a gentle squeeze. "Sweet dreams, Light."

She nodded. "Right. You too."

Hope released her and she continued on her way. A small frown pulled at her lips. Her elbow remained warm where he'd touched her. She fought the urge to look back over her shoulder to where she could hear him talking to Snow again. A yawn tickled the back of her throat and she held it back through sheer force of will. She hadn't thought she was tired, but apparently the trip was catching up with her.

She set her tray on the small shelf labeled 'dish return' and hurried out of the mess hut before Snow could find an excuse to drag her back into conversation.

oO0Oo

* * *

Abrupt ending is abrupt. Sorry about that. That's what happens when you write a story in one big lump and then split it into chapters later.

This chapter was a short one and there were a few sections that could've been edited better if I cared enough but my goal is to keep this thing moving and deliver new chapters in a timely fashion so you'll just have to excuse the roughness. I hope you enjoyed it regardless. I'm super happy to see that there are already a few people following this story. I was worried I would be shouting into the void but there's still a handful of you left it seems. Stay gold!


	3. Chapter 3

The following morning found the team well-rested and ready to get started. Lightning stood bundled up in her winter gear beside the command hut's radio dock while Rygdea talked about what he'd learned from the recon scouts.

"They've checked all the main trails and explored these areas in depth," he pointed to four locales on a map he must have received from Rocher the previous night. The map was barebones and sketchy and definitely had the look of a work in progress. Lightning lamented the loss of their ability to perform aerial cartography. "Unfortunately, the cragginess of the area makes many spots difficult to access n' provides lots a' places for enemies to hide. Not to mention there're a whole lotta places that just plain can't be traversed in this weather. We'll just have to hope the missing team was similarly obstructed."

Lightning nodded and turned to her comrades. "Well, a fresh set of eyes can't hurt. We'll take the trails today. See if we can't find something the other teams missed."

Snow showcased his trademarked grin. "You're the boss."

Rygdea's lips twitched upward in amusement. "S'pose we gotta start somewhere. Then let's split into groups. I'll divide my men into two teams to tackle the Northern trail. You lot take the South."

Snow gave the man a casual salute before turning to Hope and laying a large hand on the boy's shoulder. "Hope and I'll take the high ground."

Lightning nodded. She turned to Sazh. "Then you and I have the lower route." She turned back to Snow. "We'll rendezvous just before the entrance to the Deepgap."

Rygdea rolled up his map and stuffed it away in his pack. "Great. We're all settled. Be sure to check in regularly via radio and report anything you find. Remember, we all gotta be back here by sundown so Rocher can make her report to base."

With that, the teams set off. Lightning and Sazh broke off after about twenty minutes with a final word to Snow and Hope to stay safe and not do anything reckless. "And yes, that means you, too," she informed Hope, a note of strictness entering her voice. Though Snow was the more frequent offender, Hope had been known to cast his good judgement to the side upon occasion. She unhooked her communicator and wagged it in front of them. "If I get a call on this thing saying one of you got hurt doing something dumb, you're not going to get any pity."

Sazh chuckled as they picked their way over icy rocks, leaving the pair behind. "Momma Bear's not as cuddly as she looks."

Lightning scowled back at him. "If I look cuddly to you then your sense of self-preservation is in serious need of tuning." She crossed her arms over her chest and paused. "And I'm not their mother," she threw in for good measure before continuing on.

Behind her, Sazh let out an amused little snort and said under his breath, "Could've fooled me."

The minutes quickly dragged into an hour and then two as they scouted along their path. Every thirty minutes, Lightning made a call to Rygdea to report their progress and assure the lieutenant-general that they hadn't been spirited away. The trek was cold and uncomfortable and as-of-yet completely devoid of anything interesting to report. The only episode of minor excitement in their day came when Snow's voice, accompanied by a large amount of static and odd, feral animal sounds, sounded excitedly on her communicator, saying "Hey, Light, you guys run across any gremlins? Who woulda guessed winter was mating season?" He broke off to laugh and she heard a groan that sounded like Hope in the background. She was about to say something dry and snarky but she was cut off by a high-pitched shriek followed by a squelching sound that made her stomach do a flip. "Oh, wow," Snow's voice came again. "I didn't think that could go there."

Lightning held the communicator away from her face as though the device itself had become tainted by the noises crackling through its speaker. "Ugh, Snow. While I appreciate your truly groundbreaking discovery, I really didn't need to hear it." Beside her, Sazh had his hands on his hips and was muttering about how in the world Snow could stomach watching such a thing. Another wet sounding squelch was reported through the communicator and Lightning promptly decided she'd had enough of monster biology for the day. "I'm hanging up, Snow. Please…just call when you find something related to the missing soldiers." She hit the end button and stuffed the radio back onto her belt. Sazh gave a shudder and they continued on.

It was another two hours before they reached the rendezvous point. The only thing that changed during that time was that a light dusting of snowflakes began falling from the patchy clusters of gray clouds that dotted the otherwise blue sky. Though Lightning hadn't expected to find anything, she still managed to be somewhat surprised by the lack of any evidence at all to indicate that humanoid beings had passed through. The snow did a very thorough job of covering any tracks, even those of Rocher's own search party.

Still, she thought as they approached the meeting point, evidence had to exist _somewhere_. It was simply a matter of finding it.

Snow and Hope arrived just twenty minutes after them, which Lightning was immensely grateful for. The cold, which was tolerable while walking, was biting while standing still. She had already lost feeling in her fingers by the time the pair joined them. She rubbed her hands together, wishing she had a second pair of gloves to wear over her military issue ones.

Hope saw her suffering and came to stand beside her, leaning his side against hers to help protect her from the wind and offer what little of his warmth could be transmitted through their thick jackets. She bent her knees slightly but kept her back straight to disguise the way she huddled against him.

"Well, we found zilch," Snow reported, looking jovial despite their lack of success.

Sazh crossed his arms and looked down at the ground. "Nothing on our end, either. The lieutenant was right. Whatever trail they might've left is long cold."

Hope lifted a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "I think the question we need to ask ourselves is where in the massif there's enough space to accommodate a group of people as large as the survey team." He looked up at his companions. "Of course, that's assuming they're still together."

Sazh sighed and waved a hand in a gesture of helplessness. " _And_ assuming they're even in the massif still. It's a heck of a lot of assuming."

Lightning decided it was her turn to chime in. "They're here," she assured the three males. "If they'd left, our patrols would've seen them. There's only one way they could've left the massif without our noticing and that's if they all hopped wyverns and rode out over the mountains."

Snow made a face that was almost comical. "Well, that would certainly be a sight to behold, but you're right that it's _probably_ not what happened."

Lightning felt the body at her side shift and she looked over to see Hope's eyebrows were furrowed thoughtfully over his eyes which were fixed on the ground. Suddenly, he looked up and said, "What about subterranean tunnels? The canyon is probably full of them. It would be dangerous to attempt a descent in this weather, but at this point we've more or less ruled out the surface paths, haven't we?"

It was Sazh's turn to look thoughtful as he contemplated Hope's suggestion. He grunted in affirmation. "It's possible," he allowed. "But then the question becomes _why?_ What would make the survey team want to take every single one of their members into the canyon—and without informing central, at that?"

"Who knows," Lightning submitted. "In any case, there's little to be gained from standing around in the cold discussing it. Let's head back to the outpost and consult Rygdea. You never know, one of his groups may've found something."

The party agreed and as a single group they turned around and began heading back to camp. They may not have found anything, but they had some new theories to work with and that was progress as far as Lightning was concerned.

They _would_ get to the bottom of this. It was only a matter of time.

o0o

"The bottom of the canyon?" Lieutenant Rocher repeated, her eyebrows shooting up. "You're joking, right? How on Pulse would they get everyone down there? And _why?_ The survey team didn't come here to go spelunking. They didn't have that kind of equipment."

Lightning didn't budge. After learning that Rygdea's men had returned just as empty handed as them, she was determined to follow any leads they had. "There's more than one way to get a bunch of people into a canyon," she pointed out. Then, as an afterthought, added, "Though I'd like to hope they steered clear of the most obvious method."

"Also, we can't forget that there may be supernatural forces at work here," Hope reminded them, drawing the attention of the room to himself. "Gran Pulse is still teeming with fal'Cie and countless other magical beings. If there was something around here that wanted a large group of people to disappear, they could probably find the means to do it."

Snow shared a look with Rygdea and nodded. "Kid's got a point."

Rocher leaned back on her palms against the radio dock as she was fond of doing and crossed one ankle over the other. "Alright. Color me interested. If you want to explore the bottom of the chasm, you're welcomed to try. I'll radio central and arrange to get descending equipment sent over. Though I warn you, it'll probably take about a week."

Lightning nodded. "Not a problem. We'll continue to search the surface in the meantime." She offered the older woman a crisp salute. "Thank you, Lieutenant."

Rocher just shrugged. "Don't thank _me_. If this wild idea of yours ends up leading us to the missing team, then I'll be the one thanking you."

After that, the meeting adjourned and all parties were released to enjoy the rest of their evening. Lightning took the opportunity to escape to the showers. She was still freezing after spending the whole day out in the wilderness and all she wanted in that moment was a nice, warm soak to beat off the lingering chill. When she returned to her hut fifteen minutes later refreshed and blessedly warm at last, she discovered Hope waiting for her. He was sitting on the floor by her bed with a bowl in his lap. A second bowl sat on the patch of floor beside him. He greeted her with a smile. "Hey, Light. It was chili night tonight and the pot was going fast so I grabbed you some before it was all gone." He gestured to the bowl next to him. "You're welcome."

Lightning pulled off her boots and plopped down beside him, placing the bowl atop her own lap. It smelled heavenly. "Thanks," she said sincerely. He had narrowly saved her from being condemned to a dinner of cold bread and leftover mush-carrots. She pushed her spoon into the violently red mixture of meat and beans and allowed the smell of spices to wash over her. Thank the Maker for Hope and his thoughtfulness.

Hope watched her with an air of amusement. "If I'd known that bowl of chili would make you so happy, I would've brought seconds."

The corners of Lightning's lips twitched upward. She didn't bother hiding the tiny smile. "One is plenty," she assured him. "If anyone needs seconds, it's you. You eat like a bird and it shows." She used her free hand to grasp his chin, turning his head left and then right to scrutinize his pale complexion and slightly protruding cheekbones. Hope had always been small for his age, but lately he'd been gaining inches like a garden weed.

Hope made a noise of protest and pulled away. "Believe me, I eat plenty." He looked down at his stomach and poked it with a frown. "It just doesn't stick."

"That's because you're growing," she informed him. She lifted her spoon to her lips and blew on it. Her efforts did little to stem the swirl of steam rising from the hot chili. She decided she didn't care and shoved the bite into her mouth. It was hardy and spicy far better than mush-carrots. "Speaking of which," she said when she'd finished chewing. "We really need to get you some new clothes. That shirt of yours is going to become a crop-top pretty soon." To demonstrate, she reached down and pressed her palm to the exposed skin of his lower back.

Hope blinked. "Your hand is warm," he noted with some surprise.

Lightning retracted the appendage and returned to her chili. "It's because I took a shower. If you're cold, I recommend doing the same."

Hope was quiet for a moment, then he looked up at her with an expression that to Lightning looked suspiciously cheeky. He set his empty bowl aside and she watched warily as he removed his gloves, one after the other. Somehow, despite having an inkling of what he was about to do, she still managed to be unprepared when the cold fingers of his left hand slipped under her top to press into her back in the same place she'd touched him. She jumped and let out a small, undignified yelp, nearly upturning her bowl of chili over her lap. Hope laughed and dodged her squirming to wrap his other arm around her middle so his right hand could join its partner on the small of her back. "You're right, that shower did the trick."

"Hope," she said menacingly through clenched teeth. "I swear to the Maker, if you don't get those cold hands off me right this minute…" She left the threat hanging.

Hope beamed up at her, entirely unaffected. "Sharing is caring, Light. You wouldn't leave a poor boy to suffer, would you?"

It was at that moment that the door opened and Snow made his entrance. The large man paused to brush the snow off the shoulders of his trench coat before closing the door behind him and turning to them. He raised a brow when his eyes landed on the picture they made; Hope practically in her lap with his arms around her and Lightning holding her bowl of chili high above his head to keep the contents from spilling. "Well, you two look cozy."

Lightning scowled at him and finally gave up attempting to remove her cling-on. Instead, she shifted him into a more comfortable position and contented herself with using his shoulder as a table for her chili. "Cozy? More like Hope is using me as a space heater." She was glad that the angle blocked Snow from seeing Hope's hands up under her shirt. She'd probably never hear the end of his teasing.

Snow laughed and joined them on the floor. He too sported a bowl of chili. "I'll be honest, I never thought I'd see the day our prickly Lightning would lower herself to accepting cuddles. But Hope always did garner special treatment."

Hope turned his face to grin at him with that same cheeky look from before. "That would be because I'm comparatively tolerable."

Lightning cuffed him lightly with the back of her hand. " _Were_ ," she corrected. "I'm beginning to rethink my stance on that."

Hope made an unaffected noise and leaned into her shoulder. At least his cold fingers were warming.

"Kid's got guts, I'll give him that," Snow said with a lopsided grin. "That, or a spectacularly poor sense of self preservation. Oh, and speaking of which," he segued suddenly, "I was talking to Rygdea just before I came and it's looking like we'll be staying in tomorrow. Seems a big storm's on its way."

Lightning groaned. "Great. A fun day holed up in an empty camp." She sighed internally at the loss of precious search time. "Any other good news?"

Snow chuckled. "Don't look so down, Light. It'll be a good chance to get to know our buddies here. Maybe you can make some friends."

Lightning awarded him her flattest, most unimpressed look and Snow held up his hands in defense. "Yeesh, it was just a suggestion."

The rose-haired soldier ignored him and said instead, "It'll give us an opportunity to do some poking around camp, at least. There may be clues in unexpected places." She brought a bite of chili to her mouth and chewed slowly. Hope was a comforting weight on her side and his added warmth was making her feel mellow.

"True enough," Snow agreed. "And maybe we can give Serah a call on the radio. Let her know we arrived safely and update her on the situation."

Lightning hummed in approval around her spoon. When she'd finished her bite, she added, "And Hope, I'm sure your dad will want a word. He's worried about you."

Hope said nothing but his loose grip on her waist tightened slightly and she felt him nod against her shoulder.

"Hey," she said softly, giving him a poke. "You'd better not be falling asleep. I'm not a bed, you know."

"On the subject of beds," Snow spoke again, causing her to look at him curiously. "I've been thinking. You've got two in here, and given that we're currently investigating a case of people mysteriously vanishing from this very camp, it would probably be safer not to have you staying here by yourself, y'know?"

Lightning stopped him with a hand. "Please tell me this isn't you volunteering to stay with me."

Snow wasn't offended. "Actually, I was thinking of leaving Hope here." He raised a brow and gave her a cheeky grin not dissimilar to the one Hope had worn. "Given that he's comparatively more tolerable than Sazh and myself."

"I knew when I said that it would be used against me," Hope muttered into her shoulder.

"Now, hold on a minute," Lightning injected. "I get your concern, but I can take care of myself. And at any rate, it's against protocol for male and female soldiers to dorm together."

Snow waved a hand dismissively. "Hope's not a soldier, he's a kid. And I'm sure Rygdea'll make an exception given what we're dealing with."

Lightning sighed when she found herself without counter-argument. Snow was right; Rygdea wouldn't take issue with Hope staying with her. He'd probably be in favor of it. And it wasn't like she could argue being uncomfortable with the arrangement because she and Hope had slept in close quarters many times during their l'Cie days. Really, she was just fighting Snow for her pride's sake. She tended to get defensive when she felt her ability to be independent was being questioned.

"Fine," she relented. "Hope can stay with me. But," she warned, "this had better not just be some excuse to get him out of your room so you and the other soldiers can go wild."

The expression Snow made at her accusation was almost comically confused. "Do you think I'm trying to get rid of him so me 'n the guys can paint our nails and play truth or dare? I hate to break it to you but a room full of men never gets that exciting."

"What it does get is smelly," Hope chimed back in. "I, for one, welcome any excuse to get away. Besides, if it ever did come to truth or dare, I'd rather be far, far out of dodge."

Lightning could see that she'd lost. "Alright, alright. Go get your things." She unfastened Hope's arms from around her and gave him a shove to get him moving. "But if anyone asks, you're still bunking with the guys. I don't need rumors about me spreading through the ranks."

She was going soft. That truth was more apparent now than ever. The old Lightning never would've been cajoled into breaking protocol. She shook her head at herself as Hope scampered off to collect his things, followed more leisurely by Snow.

Oddly, the thought that ran first and foremost through her mind as she moved her scattered possessions to one side of the room was that she hoped news of this never got back to Serah.

o0o

The next day was long and painfully boring. All day long, powerful winds buffeted the huts and snow was thrown around like sand in the hands of an angry toddler. Lightning shivered as icy blasts of wind whipped her hair against her face on her way back to her hut from command. In her arms, she clutched a collection of files containing reports written by the missing team detailing their exploration of the massif. It was a slim chance, but she hoped something inside them might offer up a lead for their own investigation.

When she reached the hut at last, she found Hope sitting on his new bed eagerly scribbling down notes on a worn-looking pad of lined paper as the pointer finger of his other hand tapped a passage in his book. His green eyes were wide and focused and Lightning could swear she saw actual gears turning behind them. She paused by his bed to watch him curiously. She didn't think she'd ever seen a person look so 'in the zone'. Whatever he'd found, it was clearly exciting. She didn't think he'd even noticed her return. She smiled to herself and was about to carry on when he suddenly spoke, startling her. "Light, could you do me a favor and take a look in my bag? There should be a book in there with a green cover. I need to check something."

Lightning's eyebrows rose. So, he had noticed. She walked over to the bag in question and unzipped it. Sure enough, the book was there—along with a surprising collection of other texts. Curious, she grabbed the bag's shoulder strap and lifted. The thing weighed a ton. She shook her head and plucked out the book in question, taking a moment to glance at the title. _Compendium of Research in Combustion Engineering_. She brought it back to the bed and handed it to him. "Maker, Hope. Did you bring the whole Academy library with you?"

Hope's lips turned up in a smile but he didn't look up from his work. "Just the necessities."

Lightning gave the bag a dubious look. "Right."

Deciding to leave Hope to his research, she made herself comfortable on her own bed and cracked open the first file. Inside was a record of the camp's first month of operations and as Lightning scanned the pages she saw that it was mostly information about local fauna and flora with a few notes here and there about the various ancient Pulsian artifacts scattered around the massif. Realizing quickly that she would find nothing of use in the first file, she moved on to the next one.

She flipped through page after page of bland survey reports, her eyes scanning diligently for anything at all of interest. It seemed most of the team's expeditions had been about exploring—familiarizing themselves with the lay of the land and cataloguing what they found. Nothing stood out to Lightning as being particularly noteworthy. As the entries progressed, the expeditions expanded further into the massif. According to the most recently dated entries, they'd made it as far as the Paddrean Archaeopolis and had been in the middle of documenting the Cie'th stones there when they disappeared. Lightning lowered the file into her lap and rubbed the area between her eyebrows. None of this was useful at all. She'd probably have better luck searching the missing soldiers' sock drawers.

Lightning was drawn from her thoughts when the mattress sank beside her and a weight appeared against her side. She looked over to see that Hope had settled himself next to her and was leaning his head on her shoulder as he studied the file. She shifted slightly to accommodate him.

"The Paddra ruins, huh?" he spoke, reaching across her lap to turn the page. "Might be worth checking out. Just in case."

Lightning glanced back at the file. "Think so?"

He nodded. "I talked to Lieutenant Rocher earlier to see if there was any additional info she could give us and she mentioned that that first sergeant who went missing, Learny, had been part of the Paddra expedition."

Lightning straightened suddenly, causing Hope to slip. She raised both eyebrows. "Hold on a minute. You're telling me that there's a clear point of commonality between the two cases and nobody bothered to inform us? Please tell me Rocher's team investigated this, at least."

Hope righted himself and pulled his legs onto the bed. "Oh, they did," he confirmed. "Rocher sent soldiers all over those ruins, but they found nothing. The details are all in the report she gave Rygdea."

Lightning pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed in annoyance. "Sure would've been nice to know that. I don't care if all they found was crystal dust—any correlation that strong is worth looking into a second time."

Hope nodded again. "I agree. We should be able to make the trip out there tomorrow if this storm breaks tonight."

Lightning hummed in her throat and began taking mental inventory of the things they'd need for the trip. The Paddrean Archaeopolis was far. Investigating it would take at least two days and they'd need to get permission from Rygdea to be gone for that long. She made a note to talk to him when they radioed Serah later.

Hope looked like he was taking a mental inventory of his own. He'd brought a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "For a trip like that we're going to want chocobos," he pointed out. "It'll just be a waste of time and energy to travel on foot. I'll talk to Rygdea about getting some prepared for us. And since we're planning to use the radio anyway, I wonder if it wouldn't be prudent to ask central if any of the other survey teams have uncovered any texts containing information about Paddra."

Lightning dipped her chin to regard her companion beneath her fringe. Hope's eyes were trained on the floor as his brain worked on the matter at hand and so he didn't notice her scrutiny. It always impressed Lightning how knowledgeable and articulate Hope was for a boy his age but sometimes, like now, his maturity unnerved her. Hope was smart, but that in and of itself wasn't unsettling. It was that sometimes when she spoke with him she forgot she was talking to a child. Hope wasn't merely knowledgeable, he seemed to possess wisdom—or cognitive ability, rather—well beyond his years. She wondered if being branded had something to do with it. Dajh was also sharper than the average seven-year-old.

Noticing her silence, Hope pulled his gaze from the floor to look back at her. "Light?"

Lightning closed the file with a snap and set it atop the pile at her side. "Yeah," she agreed. "That's a good idea. I'm sure your dad would be thrilled to look into it personally."

Hope said nothing for a moment but the weight of his gaze didn't leave her. It was funny, she mused, to think that this was the same boy who just months ago had been meek and cowardly and afraid to look her in the eye. These days, she was the one who had to stop herself from averting her eyes from his. Not that she was in any way afraid of or intimidated by him, but more and more often when he looked at her it almost—and perhaps she was crazy for thinking this—felt as if there was another person behind his gaze.

She mentally chastised herself for entertaining an idea so utterly absurd.

Hope finally looked away and swung his feet back over the side of the bed, preparing to stand. "Well, then. Shall we go gather up Snow and Sazh? The sooner we get started, the better."Lightning nodded and slid off the bed, beating him to the punch. She pulled on her boots and grabbed her jacket from the hook by the door. "Right. Let's go."

oO0Oo

* * *

That feel when you're editing a chapter and you have this nagging suspicion that you're forgetting something important…

Oh, well. Yolo.


	4. Chapter 4

"Lightning…you're really okay? You've settled in alright?" Serah's voice crackled slightly over the long-range transceiver. After nearly an hour of conversations with central command, Bartholomew and finally Serah and Dajh, the others had left to give the sisters some privacy. Lightning was grateful for their consideration.

"Yeah," she assured her concerned sister. "There haven't been any problems at all. It's a pretty small group over here so it doesn't get too lively."

Serah made a noise to show she was listening. "That's good. I can't help but worry when I know you and the others are investigating an area where soldiers have been vanishing without a trace. I wish I could be there alongside you all."

Lightning smiled at that. She knew Serah was always a little bummed whenever her team was called on for special missions. She had been a l'Cie too, after all. But because she'd never used magic nor had any combat experience, the group, Serah included, had unanimously agreed that the risk of bringing her along outweighed any potential benefit her presence might award them. "Trust me, you'd just be bored and cold. And besides, you're needed back in New Eden. Hope tells me you're the only one those kids will listen to."

Lightning's comment earned a short peal of laughter from her sister. "Well, I don't want to sound like I'm tooting my own horn, but he's actually right. I think it's because I'm not much older than they are. It's easy for me to relate to them."

Lightning exhaled a short chuckle. "You sure it's not just because you're attractive?"

Serah laughed again. "Did Hope tell you that, too? There is certainly some…well, of _that_ going on, but it's died down a lot recently. I think the kids have figured out Snow and I are an item."

"My sister, the heartbreaker," Lightning teased. Serah always had been popular with boys. Her soft smile and friendly disposition were a magnet for young men and Lightning had watched her sister gently reject numerous smitten hopefuls during her high school years.

Lightning heard an amused noise through the speaker. "Not as much as you. You've become like a legend in the corps, you know. The beautiful l'Cie soldier that no one's been able to crack. There are guys who would leap at the chance to date you."

Lightning lifted an eyebrow. "Where did you hear that?" She'd certainly never heard such a thing. Most of the other soldiers she interacted with were intimidated by her.

"Snow," was her sister's answer and as soon as she said it Lightning knew she should've guessed as much. "Apparently, several corps members have come to him for advice on how to get close to you."

Lightning scoffed and shook her head. "Well, that was their first mistake," she muttered dryly. "I probably shouldn't ask, but what exactly was his advice?"

When Serah spoke again her voice was full of amusement. "To be Hope."

Lightning exhaled a long, suffering sigh. She lifted her hands and rubbed her temples in an effort to push back the wave of irritation rising within her. "Funny," she deadpanned.

"Well, he's right on one account," her sister lent and Lightning looked back at the microphone as if it were Serah herself. "I don't think a soldier is what you need."

Lightning lifted both eyebrows this time. "Oh?" she questioned, a small spark of genuine curiosity igniting at her sister's statement.

Serah hummed in affirmation. "I think you need someone who can balance you. Someone who you can respect for being different from you. An academic might just be the best kind of person to fit the bill."

Lightning crossed her arms over her chest and fought the urge to say something contrary just because this was a subject she possessed little love for. "…Right."

"I mean, that's just my theory," Serah's voice came again. "In the end, it's gonna come down to what you want. But it's something to think about."

Lightning lowered her chin and tapped her finger against the inside of her upper arm as she considered her sister's words. Serah knew her better than anyone and if she thought Lightning would be happier with a civilian it was indeed an avenue to consider. Serah was rarely wrong when it came to matters of the heart. "Sure."

There was a lengthy pause in which neither sister said anything. It was finally broken by Serah who appealed to her in a gentle voice. "Lightning?"

Lightning hummed to show she was listening.

"If you _were_ to develop feelings for someone…you'd tell me, right? Even if…it was something you didn't want to talk about with anyone else?"

Lightning blinked at the radio and cocked her head in confusion at her sister's odd shift in tone. "Serah, I highly doubt I could hide something like that from you. Better just to be honest and get it out of the way, right?"

Serah issued a sigh that to Lightning sounded suspiciously relieved. Lightning frowned at the noise. Was there something her sister wasn't telling her? She forced the line of her mouth to relax and she shook her head. She was probably just imagining things. If there was something Serah was concerned about, she would say so. She wasn't the type to fluff around. "Just remember that I'm here for you no matter what," she said, her tone much lighter this time.

Lightning smiled. "I know."

"Well, sis, I'm gonna have to let you go now. I've gotta get home and make dinner for Dajh."

Lightning nodded, even though there was no way for Serah to see it. "Sure."

"Tell the others bye for me and be sure to call again soon. You know how I worry."

Lightning reached for the switch on the transceiver. "You know I will."

She could hear the smile in Serah's voice as she said, "Love you, sis."

Lightning's own smile widened just slightly. "Love you, too, Serah."

There was click on the other end followed by silence. Lightning's hand hovered over the switch on the transceiver for a moment before flipping it to off. Her smile melted away to be replaced by a frown. Despite what she'd just told Serah, she had an odd feeling—almost like a premonition—right then that she wouldn't be talking to her sister again for a while. As she moved away from the radio to collect her coat, she shook the feeling off. No instinct was sharp enough to predict the future. She would talk to Serah again before they descended into the canyon.

She pulled her arms through the sleeves of her coat and stepped out into the cold to go and find where the others had wandered off to.

o0o

"Well, this place is as cheerful as ever," Snow remarked as they dismounted their chocobos and tethered them to a broken column near the entrance to the Paddra ruins.

Lightning took a moment herself to look around at the ancient, crumbling city. It was even quieter and more forlorn than the last time they'd visited. The cold weather had greatly thinned the number of monsters prowling the old, broken streets and there were no Cie'th to be seen. She wondered if Orphan's demise had caused those poor, trapped souls to be freed at last.

Beside her, Sazh swatted snow off his afro and tightened the thick winter scarf around his neck. "If you're thinking about living like a hermit, maybe."

"So, this used to be some big, fancy city, eh?" Rygdea spoke up, joining Snow by the steps leading up to the ruins. "Well, shucks. I'd sure hate to see what took this place out."

"Infighting." Everyone turned to look at Hope who tore his eyes from the digi-pad he was holding as he joined Snow and Rygdea. He didn't wait for their question to be vocalized before explaining. "Paddra was once the home of an ancient tribe called the Farseers. According to surviving records, they claimed to be the oldest tribe on Pulse. That is, until civil war tore them apart. This city has stood abandoned for hundreds of years and it's assumed that all of its former residents were drafted by fal'Cie to join the War of Transgression."

Rygdea hummed thoughtfully and placed his hands on his hips as he looked back at the ruins. "That so? I guess that just proves Pulsians were just as human as us." He chuckled and started up the steps.

Lightning and her team followed him and out of habit Lightning sped up to walk alongside Hope. He glanced at her and moved in closer to wrap his arm around hers. Lightning lifted a brow and removed her free hand from her coat pocket to reach across her front and poke his forehead. "You've become such a glom."

Hope smiled up at her under his fringe. "Cuddling releases hormones that fight infections. I'm boosting your immune system."

Lightning tried very hard to maintain a stoic face, but despite her best efforts, her lips tugged upward at the expectant, faux-innocent gleam in Hope's eyes. "In Hopeland, any action is permissible so long as there's a scientific excuse for it."

Hope's smile stretched into a grin. "That's right."

Lightning decided then and there that she hoped she came down with a cold just to wipe that smug grin off his face.

At the top of the steps, the group broke off into teams to tackle the ruins. Hope gave no indication that he intended to release Lightning's arm and was thusly grouped with her. Sazh joined up with Rygdea and Snow ended up with the single escort soldier Rygdea had chosen to come along with them, Lieutenant Comelin. They would be free to explore at their own pace until sunset when they'd meet back up at the entrance to the ruins to set up camp for the night.

Barely a half hour into their search, the snow, which had been falling lightly since the morning, picked up, slowing their progress and obscuring the tops of the tall buildings around them. Lightning pulled her coat tightly around her and several times she saw Hope rub his gloved hands together in a futile effort to warm them. The duo did their best to remain observant of their surroundings while huddling close together to conserve heat.

Lightning hadn't previously given the Paddra ruins much thought back when they were still l'Cie. The ruins were curious, sure, but ultimately just one of countless remains from a bygone era. She hadn't had the time to wonder about them. Now, though, she was able to appreciate just how advanced Pulsian cities had once been. The Paddra ruins were full of tall, modern-looking buildings interspersed with more ancient-looking structures. Paddra had clearly once been a great, thriving civilization. To think that such a place had met its end at its own hands. Lightning wondered what in the world had been divisive enough to bring such a civilization to ruin.

Hope saw her staring up at the skyscrapers and read her mind. "It's a real mystery, huh? Just what happened to tear this place apart? The conflict that sparked the Paddra civil war wasn't listed in any of the Academy's books."

Lightning flexed her fingers to warm them as she considered Hope's words. It was a little odd that none of the uncovered texts mentioned the reason for the Paddra war, but then, none of those texts had come from Paddra itself. Perhaps the reason had been so obvious at the time that nobody had thought to record it.

"Sic transit gloria mundi," Hope's voice called her attention back to him. "It's the fate of all things to one day return to the Maker." He looked up at the ruined skyscrapers with a small, confusing smile that caused Lightning to raise a brow. She'd never pegged Hope for the religious sort.

She was pulled abruptly from her musings when movement caught her eye near the top of a fire escape on the side of one of the buildings. The movement had been brief—just a shifting of shadows, really—but it had undoubtedly been human. Lightning's eyes widened and then narrowed. Who in their right mind would be out in this weather? And lurking around the top of a long-abandoned ruin, at that? Someone who was trying very hard not to be seen, judging by their movement.

She stopped abruptly and put a hand on Hope's arm to stop him as well. He looked up at her curiously. "What's up, Light?"

Lightning shook her head and put a finger to her lips. Her eyes didn't leave the fire escape. Softly, she said, "Someone's watching us."

Hope followed her gaze and frowned seriously up at the building. Just as softly, he said, "Out here? Are you sure? This place is supposed to be abandoned."

She nodded as subtly as she could. "Positive. Someone's here who isn't supposed to be." Her eyes scanned the building hoping to pick out more signs of life but the structure remained still and silent. She didn't let that deter her. Whoever it was, they were still up there. Her heart rate sped up in anticipation as she began walking toward the bottom of the fire escape. "Let's go, Hope. Take the rear."

Hope nodded and dutifully followed as she reached the old, rusted structure and hopped the ruined railing. The metal steps shuddered under her weight but held and she quickly began to climb, taking care not to make too much noise. Hope stuck close behind her as they scaled the building story by story, their boots making soft a clanking noise on each step. For once, the weather was on their side, the sound of their ascent was muffled by the snow. Thirteen stories passed before they finally reached the top. When they arrived at last at the final landing, Lightning drew her gunblade noiselessly and took a deep breath before peeking around the corner where the shadow had disappeared.

Sure enough, there were footprints in the fresh layer of snow right where the shadow had been. And they were unmistakably human.

"Footprints," Hope made the same observation, coming up behind her. He looked around uncertainly. "But there's no one here."

The duo had no time to be confused because just as the words left Hope's mouth, a great crack split the air and from up above a wave of intense heat rushed over them, pushing them harshly against the safety railing. Lightning covered her face to protect it from the burning air and beside her, Hope coughed and grabbed the railing for support. When Lightning was finally able to open her eyes again, she saw that the air was filled with golden embers and residual peels of orange colored magic. "What in the—" she started but she was cut off when the railing she and Hope were leaning on abruptly cracked and broke off. Lightning only had time to see a humanoid figure disappear from the edge of the roof before she was falling down toward the street below.

"Light!" she heard Hope's panicked shout and her fall abruptly ended with a painful yank that nearly dislocated her shoulder. She looked up, bewildered, to see Hope's hand grasping her wrist. His other hand was fastened tightly around what was left of the railing, which had pulled away from the landing to leave them dangling freely many stories above the ground. His teeth were gritted with the strain of keeping the both of them from falling to their deaths. She was surprised he had the strength to support her added weight.

But Lightning could barely focus on their present predicament with the memory of what had just happened swimming in her mind. That had been fire magic. Whoever had been on the roof with them, they had been a l'Cie.

But what fal'Cie would still be branding l'Cie now that Orphan had fallen? There shouldn't be any reason now to take human servants.

She heard a grunt of pain above her and saw that Hope was struggling. He was panting hard and a sheen of sweat was visible on his brow. Lightning pulled her mind from thoughts of fal'Cie plots and wracked her brain for some way to get them both to safety. She cast her gaze around and saw the lip of a veranda just a few feet below her. She could make it, but she'd have to swing. "Hope," she called up to him. "Do you think you can keep holding on? I'm going to swing and then jump."

It took a moment for Hope to find the breath to answer. "Do what…you have to," he called back down. "I won't let you fall."

Lightning's chest clenched at his words. She swallowed the feeling down and nodded up at him. "Whatever you do, don't let go of that railing. When I give the word, I want you to release my wrist, alright?"

Hope just nodded, the strain too much for him to speak.

Moving quickly before his strength could give out, Lightning pumped her legs back and then forward to build momentum. Hope cried out in pain as the motion strained him further but Lightning only needed two swings before she was in range of the veranda. "Now! Let go!" she barked and Hope released her wrist, sending her tumbling over the aged concrete of the veranda's railing. The landing was a rough one and she felt pain zing up her leg from where her knee cracked against the floor but she ignored it and stood quickly. She spun around to lean out over the railing. Above her, she could see Hope still dangling from the broken bar. "Hope!" she called to him. "I made it! Can you pull yourself back up?"

Hope's face was white. He continued to hang, making no motion to pull himself to safety. She was about to call to him again when he said, "Light…I can't." His voice was weak. "My strength is…shot."

Lightning felt her heart plummet. This was bad. Hope wouldn't be able to keep hanging for much longer and there was no way for her to reach him from the veranda. His quick reaction had saved her life but there was nothing she could do for him from where she was. She needed to get back up onto the roof. If she could just get above him, she could pull him up. But would she make it in time? She had no idea how long it would take her to make it up through the building.

She shook her head. No. There was no such thing as can or can't. She would do it.

"Don't let go, Hope! I'm coming to pull you up!" She didn't wait for his answer. She lifted her leg and smashed it through the cracked glass of the veranda's sliding door. Two more well-aimed kicks and the glass slid away, leaving an empty frame. She darted inside, wary of holes where the floor had fallen through, and raced through what looked like the remains of a bedroom and kitchen until she came to a door. The door was locked but the mechanism to unlatch it was still functional and with a sharp turn the deadbolt slid back and the door opened. On the other side of the door was a long hallway and at the end of the hallway was another door with a faded but still recognizable pictograph of stairs nailed to it. Lightning ran to the door and was grateful to find it unlocked. She pushed the heavy slab of metal outward but faltered when the door ground to a stop halfway open.

"Damnit! Not now!" she swore as she shoved her shoulder against the metal, hoping to get it to move. The door remained firmly stuck. She thought of Hope hanging on for dear life outside in the biting cold and her desperation to get to him in time made her strong. She whirled around and sent a leg flying at the door and finally, the metal husk bowed under the force of her will and swung the rest of the way open. Lightning rushed into the stairwell and began to climb, her feet pounding on each step as she raced upward. At the top, she found another door. Above it was an exit sign. "Please, don't be locked," she prayed as she grabbed the handle and gave a twist. To her great relief, the door clicked open without trouble and she barreled through, finding herself on the roof. There was no sign of their assailant.

"Hope," she called as she dropped down onto the emergency escape ledge and found the spot where the railing was broken. When she received no answer, she leaned out over the edge and her heart just about stopped when she saw Hope still dangling at the end of the warped metal bar.

He lifted his face to hers and managed a shallow smile. "Light…" he uttered softly. His body swayed alarmingly as a gust of icy wind swept across the side of the building and Lightning's heart gave another shudder.

"Just hold on," she instructed, some of her panic leaking into her voice despite the effort she made to sound reassuring. "I've got you." She crept as close to the edge as she could and grabbed the railing for support. She would need to lean out quite a ways to reach him. Snow flurried around her face and stung her skin. She could only imagine how Hope was faring trying to hang on when his muscles were surely cramping from the cold. Already, a layer of snow had built up on top of his fingers. She put some weight on the rail to test it and when she was satisfied that it wasn't going to break again she adjusted her grip and swung down. She dangled for a few heartbeats before her legs found the side of the building and she planted her feet against it. Hope let out a small, pained cry when the railing bobbed with her added weight and she winced. She wished he was just a little bit closer so that she could've pulled him up from the safety of the concrete.

"Light…" he spoke again. He was looking at her with clouded eyes. His face was chapped from the wind and his hair was wet with snow. At some point his hood had fallen back, probably pushed back by the wind. "I can't…hang on. I'm gonna fall."

"No, you're not!" she snapped back. She tightened her grip on the rail and reached for him. If she could just grab hold of him, she could fling him onto the balcony below and then pull herself back up. The tips of her fingers brushed the sleeve of his jacket and she straightened her legs, pushing herself as close as possible to get a grip on him.

Through it all, Hope's eyes didn't leave her. He watched her with eyelids half closed against the wind and snow and Lightning refused to interpret his unfaltering gaze as him attempting to memorize her face in his final moments. At last, she managed to wrap her fingers around the material of his sleeve. Now, she just had to coax him into releasing the bar as gently as possible and—

Another gust of wind swept across the side of the building and Lightning instinctively hid her face in her arm to protect it from the stinging ice. It was a singular moment of weakness—a mere, split-second-long window of inattentiveness—and it was just enough time for Hope's grip to slip.

By the time Lightning realized what had happened, Hope's sleeve had torn right out of her grasp and he was falling away into the swirling storm beneath her. All she could do was watch in shock as his frightened green eyes were swallowed by white and then he was gone—fallen thirteen stories straight to unforgiving pavement.

Shock was quickly replaced by panic. " _Hope!_ " she screamed after him, but it was already too late. Her voice couldn't reach him. It was only her soldier instincts that kept Lightning's own fingers from slipping from the railing as she forgot that she herself was dangling hundreds of feet off the ground. She couldn't think of anything—couldn't see anything—but Hope's form falling away and the scared look in his eyes as they remained fixed on hers right to the very end. Lightning understood enough about physics and human anatomy to know that a fall from this height wasn't survivable.

A cry surged up in her throat and she didn't even try to stop it as it tore from her lips. It was a terrible, ugly sound of pure anguish as her brain registered what had just happened. What she'd just lost.

Hope—the tough young boy with a brain like a supercomputer and a heart the size of Gran Pulse—was gone. She'd let him fall. She'd failed him.

For a long time, Lightning didn't move. She continued to hang from the railing that had stolen her partner from her and watch the storm below with absent eyes. Despite her brain already accepting Hope's fall as fact, her heart still struggled to believe it. Hope couldn't really be _gone_. Not just like that. It was too soon—too sudden. He couldn't be gone because Lightning was supposed to die long before him. That was the proper order of things. _She_ was the soldier. _She_ was his elder.

Right then, Lightning didn't feel very old. She felt young and very scared.

Mechanically, she pulled herself back onto the roof and stood on shaky legs. She tried to point her gaze at the fire escape but her whole soul rejected the notion of going back down. If she just stayed here, she could pretend there was a chance that Hope had survived. If she just didn't see his body, she could tell herself he was still alive.

Gods, what had she done? She'd fucked up. She'd fucked up in the worst way.

Bartholomew. How was she going to tell Bartholomew that she'd let Hope… she couldn't think the word. Maker, this couldn't be _real_.

In a sudden burst of clarity, she curled her the fingers of her right hand into a fist and slammed it into her thigh. The pain helped to kick start her brain. "Get a grip, Farron," she scolded herself. "You did this. You need to take responsibility." She couldn't afford to lose her rationality now. She needed to go down those stairs and she needed to see the b—see him. Already, her soldier training was trying to distance her emotions from the accident, but she wouldn't do that. Not to Hope. She would feel every iota of this.

As she willed herself to walk to the stairs, her hand found the communicator on her belt and her thumb dutifully punched a familiar three-digit code followed by the call button. There was a moment of static and then Snow's overly cheerful voice sounded over the speaker. "Hey, Light! What's up? You guys find something?"

It was all Lightning could do to hold the device steady. She fought a sudden, desperate urge to throw it off the side of the building. "Snow." The voice that issued from her throat was weak and not at all her own and Lightning wanted nothing more than to swallow it back down so that her brother-in-law-to-be would never know what— so that none of this had to be real. But that wasn't something she could do so she soldiered on. "I need you to come…to come to my location. Please."

Snow could obviously tell that something wasn't right because he didn't ask any questions. He just said, "I'll be there immediately," and then the line went dead.

oO0Oo

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Ah, Paddra. How I wished we could've seen more of you (and other Gran Pulse cities) in the games. Such wasted potential.

Inspiration for the buildings in the ruins was drawn largely from the desert complex in **Nier: Automata**. (A truly stunning game which I strongly encourage everyone to play.) In many ways, Earth in that game isn't unlike Gran Pulse. Both are worlds where humans have been absent for many centuries and once-great civilizations are in the process of being retaken by nature. From what we've seen of Oerba and the small section of the Paddra Archaeopolis that's explorable in-game, the architecture on Gran Pulse echoes that of real-life modern cities combined with more primitive and ancient structures. I like to think that Paddra once looked very much like the kind of city you can see today. A place like New York or London. Gran Pulse is supposed to be roughly equivalent in size to Earth, so I imagine there were once countless such cities dotting its surface.

For me, the biggest disappointment of XIII-2 was how small the world felt. With almost everyone from Cocoon migrating down to Pulse, Square had an opportunity to showcase this great terra incognita that we'd only barely scratched the surface of in the first game, but instead we were sent on a romp through time where we just visited the same familiar locations over and over again. Again, such wasted potential. As much as I ended up enjoying the sequel games, a part of me will always mourn the loss of that opportunity.


	5. Chapter 5

The descent down the fire escape was simultaneously the longest and shortest trek of Lightning's life. Her soul was split between wanting to reach Hope as fast as possible and not wanting to see his lifeless body broken on the cold ground. Not knowing for certain what lay in store when she reached the bottom was the only thing that kept her going and she carefully kept her eyes trained on the steps until her feet landed safely on the snowy concrete. Once that final threshold was crossed, however, Lightning's whole demeanor changed. She whirled around to face the spot where Hope had fallen, suddenly desperate to see him.

She found him quickly. His dark coat was easy to pick out against the white ground even with the layer of snow that had already collected on top of him. His body lay motionless and his limbs were sprawled akimbo across the powder-covered street. His back was to her. She couldn't see his face but the snow around his head was pink.

Lightning sucked in a breath and rushed across the twenty or so feet that separated them. She fell to her knees beside him and her eyes wasted no time in roving over his form, assessing the damage. It was clear from the rough tracks in the powder around him that he'd rolled on impact. She could see the outline of a curb in the crushed snow nearby and surmised that he'd struck it at a bad angle and been bounced out into the street.

"Hope," she called his name softly, though it came out as more of a croak. His body didn't respond at all to her appeal. The only whisper of movement came from the wind tousling wayward strands of his hair. "Hey," she uttered weakly. She laid a hand on his shoulder and gave him a shake.

When Hope still failed to respond, Lightning delicately placed her other hand on his hip and used both appendages to pull him onto his back. His body moved easily, as if he were merely sleeping. Her heart gave a painful squeeze when her eyes landed on his face. His skin was ghostly pale and there was a gash near his temple that leaked dark crimson blood. Snow clung to both his hair and his coat in clumps and she brushed it away as best she could while her eyes remained fixed on his face. His lips had already begun to turn blue and his eyelashes had collected a dusting of snowflakes. She moved an arm under his shoulders and hoisted his top half up. His head lolled back like a dummy's to expose the white flesh of his neck. His skin was cold.

Lightning exhaled a long, shuddering breath and drew his head to her chest. Just an hour ago Hope had been clinging to her arm and making jokes about the health benefits of snuggling. Now, Lightning wished more than anything that healing him were as simple as holding him close.

That was how Snow found her ten minutes later; clutching Hope's head to her bosom as snow piled up on her hair and back. He jogged over to the spot where she knelt and Lightning was only peripherally aware of his eyes widening as he crouched down adjacent to her. His eyes roamed Hope's form, taking in the blood on the snow and the way he hung limply in her embrace. "Tell me what happened," was all he said as serious as Lightning had ever heard him.

It took a few moments for Lightning to pull her head to a place where she could form the words to answer him. In a small voice, she said simply, "He fell."

Snow looked confused for a short moment until his chin rose to look up at the building looming over them. Understanding lit his face. "From there?" He looked back at her and his eyebrows were furrowed in a disbelieving manner. "You're _kidding_. How?"

Lightning could only shake her head, her cheek brushing against Hope's soft hair, and say, "We were attacked. The rail broke." It was all she could get out past the lump of despondency stuck deep in her throat.

Snow swore. His right hand tightened into a fist and he punched the ground beside him. When Lightning finally looked up at him he wore an expression she hadn't seen on his face since the day the two of them argued over Serah's crystal. He looked angry, but also lost; like for once he couldn't see any silver lining. This time was different from back then. Death wasn't a fate that could be fought with a l'Cie brand and a little determination. It was permanent. Not even Snow's endless optimism could fix it.

The two of them probably would've remained in that spot, their minds running in hopeless circles had Snow's search partner, Lieutenant Comelin, not spoken up. Lightning hadn't even realized the man was there until he said, "Sitting around in the cold isn't going to help. You need to get him warm."

That snapped Lightning out of her funk. "Get him warm?" she repeated, throwing an incredulous look at the older man standing off to the side. "You've got to be joking. Look at him. What good is warming him up going to do?" Her question was delivered more scathingly than was appropriate when addressing an officer of superior rank, but Lightning couldn't care about protocol just then.

The lieutenant lifted an eyebrow at her. "I am looking at him, and I can tell you he's going to freeze at this rate. If you want to help him, you need to get him out of the cold and dress that head wound as soon as possible."

Lightning just stared at him for a handful of heartbeats before what he was saying finally registered. Her heart nearly stopped for the second time that afternoon, but this time it wasn't from fear. She whipped her head back to the boy in her arms so fast she nearly gave herself whiplash and tore off her glove with her teeth to press two fingers to the side of his neck. It was a few moments before she felt it, but his pulse was there. It beat weakly against her fingers, each pump an impossible miracle.

Immediately, Lightning lifted the boy into her arms and rounded on the soldier. "Call Rygdea. Tell him to meet us back at the entrance to the ruins. We're going to need a fire and tents."

The lieutenant nodded and pulled out his communicator. Lightning didn't wait for him to finish pressing the buttons before taking off back the way she and Hope had come. She made it all of ten feet before a large hand on her shoulder stopped her. She glared at the owner of the hand, daring him to delay her, but the look on Snow's face was one of understanding and it stilled her ire. "Give him here, Light. We'll make better time if I carry him."

Reluctantly, Lightning nodded and handed Hope to her large, future brother-in-law. Snow carefully positioned the boy so that he was secure and then they were running again.

The trip back to the ruins' entrance took twenty minutes and during that time, Lightning's mind went wild with questions. How had Hope managed to survive that fall? It should have been impossible. There was no way a human body could withstand the impact from a thirteen-story freefall. It made no sense. Although, now that she thought about it, it was already odd that Hope's skull hadn't been completely shattered from the force of his landing. Could the snow have cushioned him enough to save him? That seemed highly unlikely. The snow buildup was only a few inches—not nearly enough to serve as any kind of buffer. That Hope had avoided becoming a smear on the pavement was nothing short of miracle.

Rygdea must have been closer to the meeting point than they were because when they arrived, he and Sazh had already pitched a canopy and managed to get a fire started. Sazh was just laying out a pallet by the flames when Lightning and Snow came barreling out of the ruins, Comelin in tow. He waved them over and pulled the blanket down so that Snow, upon removing Hope's snow-covered jacket and boots, could insert him into the fluffy cocoon of warmth.

"I got the gist of what happened," the old pilot said as Snow bundled Hope tightly in the bedroll and began shaking snow from his hair. "But you're gonna have to tell me the whole story."

"Later," Lightning promised as she moved to Hope's side and upturned a bottle of disinfectant onto a wad of cotton. She let her first aid training take over, dabbing his wound and cleaning the blood away before pressing a clean cotton pad to the injury and winding a bandage around his head to keep it in place. When she was finished, she set the medical kit aside and placed her uncovered palms on his cheeks, hoping to transfer some of her warmth into his cold skin.

Behind her, Snow placed a hand on Lieutenant Comelin's shoulder. "Hey, we owe you our thanks for telling us about Hope," he said, and Lightning could hear the genuine gratitude in his voice. "But you gotta tell me, how did you know he was still alive? I thought he was a goner for sure."

The lieutenant nodded seriously. "I used to work in a freezer facility back on Cocoon," he explained. "It was a bioweapons development facility with the aim of breeding monsters that could fight well in the cold. It was dangerous job and there were accidents all the time. Working in a place like that, you get used to looking at frozen corpses—man and beast alike."

Snow took a step back and made a face. "…Ah. Lovely."

Comelin shrugged. "It was a living."

An awkward pause followed their conversation which Rygdea broke by saying, "We'll need to notify headquarters about this. Bart'll want to know of Hope's accident and depending on the extent of the injury we may need to send him back."

Lightning stiffened. No part of her was okay with Hope leaving her sight again any time soon.

Luckily, Snow came to the rescue, saying, "We'll see when he wakes up, but I suspect he's going to fight you on that one."

Rygdea placed his hands on his hips and shook his head. "Hell if I don't know it. If it'd been up to Bart, he never would've come in the first place, but the kid can argue his way 'round anything."

There was another period of silence following this statement as everyone turned their attention to the unconscious teenager. The only sound was the popping of the fire and metallic scraping as Sazh pulled a folding chair over and sat down. This time, he was the one to break the silence. "Hey, Soldier," he addressed Lightning with a soft voice. "You've taken care of Hope as best you can for right now, so why don't you tell us what happened? Hope's not goin' anywhere."

Lightning finally looked up from Hope's face and nodded. She hesitated briefly as she struggled with how to report the incident before sighing and beginning with, "It was my fault. I was careless." She moved her hands from Hope's face to clutch at the blanket over his chest before continuing. "I spotted someone in the ruins. An unknown. They appeared to be keeping tabs on us from the top of a building."

The men all shared a look at her report. Lightning knew they were considering this mystery person's potential ties with their case. She went on. "Hope and I went to investigate. We were unprepared to encounter a l'Cie."

"A what? L'Cie?" Snow cut in, taking a step toward where she sat.

"But shouldn't they all be gone?" Sazh piped in. He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned dubiously. "What would the fal'Cie be needin' with l'Cie now that Cocoon's toast?"

Lightning turned her gaze to him. "My thoughts exactly. But our observer could use magic. He went on the offensive when he realized he'd been discovered and blasted us off the roof. I would've fallen too if not for Hope's quick thinking. He caught me and helped me swing to safety, but he didn't have enough strength to pull himself back up and I…I couldn't save him."

A hand fell on her shoulder and Lightning looked up into the kind blue eyes of Snow. "Hey," he said gently. "You did everything you could. Nobody here doubts that. And Hope…you know he thinks the world of you. I'm certain he's satisfied knowing he was able to save his heroine."

Lightning's hands tightened on Hope's covers but she kept her expression carefully blank. She didn't want the others to see just how raw—how threadbare her emotions still were. When Hope had slipped away, she'd been devastated. Her brain was still playing catch up with the fact that he'd survived. The thought of losing Hope…it was like losing Serah. A piece of her would surely have died with him.

"Snow's right," Sazh spoke again. "What matters is that both of you survived. Hope's a fighter. He'll pull though. In the meantime, I suggest we finish setting up camp and get started preparing a nice, hardy dinner for when he wakes up. Maker knows he'll be needing a hot meal after what he went through."

Rygdea made a noise of agreement and Lightning switched her attention to him. "Sazh's right. Also, I'm troubled by what y'said about that person you 'n Hope met. If they really were a l'Cie, then we've got a real problem on our hands. First the survey team goes missing, now a l'Cie pops up in the Paddra ruins. We're going to need to keep on our guards while we're here."

Following Rygdea's sobering statement, the group scattered to take care of the tasks at hand. Sazh helped Comelin erect the sleeping tents while Snow and Rygdea discussed security measures and drafted a look-out schedule for the night. Lightning was left the chore of preparing the night's meal—a task she normally would never have agreed to as she was no cook, but it allowed her to stay near Hope and that stilled her tongue. She did her best to follow the directions on the back of the curry packet which consisted of boiling water in a large pot over the fire and crudely chopping veggies into chunks. She did her best with her limited cooking knowledge and soon their dinner was bubbling away. It smelled good enough, so Lightning was confident that she hadn't messed it up too badly.

Soon, all the tents were pitched and dinner was ready to serve. Lightning was just moving to fetch bowls from their supply pack when she heard a low groan from Hope's pallet. Immediately, she abandoned the task and ran to his side. As she watched, Hope's face pinched in pain and his lips parted slightly to show clenched teeth. It was the first sign of life he'd demonstrated since his fall and Lightning thought her heart might fly right out her throat, such was her relief at seeing him moving at last. Her haste to go to him must have been noticed by the rest of the group because everyone stopped what they were doing to join her at Hope's side.

"Is he waking up?" she heard Sazh question from behind Rygdea.

Hope groaned again and Lightning held her breath as his eyebrows pushed together and then finally, _finally_ his eyes opened. He blinked once, then twice, and then one of his hands slithered out from beneath the blanket to touch his head where the bandages hid his wound. "Ow," he uttered, wincing at the contact.

Lightning could've cried at the mere sound of his voice. Were she any less of a soldier, she might have. A part of her had feared that she'd never hear it again.

Hope's eyes found her and she saw them widen in what looked like surprise. He stared at her uncomprehendingly, as if she was the last person he expected to see upon waking. He blinked again, then his lips parted and in a quiet voice he said, "I'm…alive?"

Beside her, Snow leaned forward and gave Hope his sunniest grin. "Welcome back to the world of the living, kid."

Hope turned his face to look at Snow in wonder. "Snow," he said the large man's name almost disbelievingly. His eyes then travelled around the rest of the group. "And Sazh…and Rygdea…" His gaze found hers again and Lightning had to stop herself from reaching for him when her own name issued from his lips. "…Light." His hand found the edge of the blanket and he pushed it back. With some effort, he pulled himself up into a sitting position. When he was properly upright, he freed his other hand, the left, and brought it up in front of his face. He turned his wrist this way and that with the same look of surprise he'd worn when greeting them. "I can't believe it," he spoke again. "It…worked?"

Snow was the one to ask the question on all their minds. "What worked?"

Hope looked back at him and just stared at his confused face for a long moment before he shifted his left arm to extend toward the fire and with all of them watching, said simply, "Blizzard."

The effect was instantaneous. At once, the flames turned to ice and shattered, the shards falling to form a frosty sheen on the blackened logs. The only evidence to prove there had been a fire in the first place was the stewpot still bubbling away on its hook.

There was a chorus of gasps from the group and both Rygdea and Comelin recoiled in shock. Lightning just stared at Hope in amazement. "What— _magic?_ " were the only words she was able to form. Her eyes found his arm where his Pulse brand had once poked out from the yellow cloth around his wrist but the flesh there was clean and unmarked. "You're…not a l'Cie?" she found the voice to question. "But then how…?"

Hope lowered his arm and looked back at her. "I don't know." He shook his head helplessly. "When I was falling—it was instinct. I guess in the moment I forgot I wasn't a l'Cie anymore and I tried calling magic to protect me. I can't believe it actually worked."

Lightning pursed her lips tightly when she realized her mouth had fallen open. So _that's_ how he'd done it. Somehow, Hope had managed to reawaken his l'Cie magic. But _how_? It should be impossible to cast magic without a brand. Such an ability was, to her knowledge, completely unprecedented.

"You're kidding me!" Sazh exclaimed next to her. He'd fallen onto his rump in shock at Hope's display. "This is a joke, right? I mean, it's _gotta_ be. l'Cie powers just returning outta the blue? Nuh uh. I can accept a lot, but eventually there's gotta be line."

To her right, Snow lifted a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "That was definitely l'Cie magic. No doubt about that. But to be able to cast it without a brand…" He met Hope's eyes with his own. "Could your brand have moved somewhere else? I mean, it's possible that you've been branded by a totally different fal'Cie, right?"

Hope averted his gaze to his covers and shook his head. "I don't think so. When I cast Blizzard just now there was no reaction from a brand." He flipped his hands over to examine his palms. "I think…that my powers came back of their own accord."

Lightning's eyes narrowed as they surreptitiously scanned what exposed skin she could find on boy in front of her. She could only see his arms and neck but true enough, there was no brand to be seen anywhere. She exhaled a silent, relieved sigh. If he didn't have a brand then that meant there was no focus. Without a focus, there was no risk of him turning Cie'th. Her eyes lingered momentarily on his hands. It was such a rare sight to see them without gloves. Hope's fingers were long and slender and steady. They were the hands of a creator. Lightning's own hands clenched into loose fists briefly before relaxing again. Hers were the opposite. Hers were the hands of a destroyer. She had an odd urge then to take one of his hands in hers just to see if they fit.

"Right," Snow's voice pulled her from her musings. The large man lifted an arm to rub at the back of his neck. "I'm honestly not sure if this complicates things or makes them easier. Having a magic user on hand will be a nice asset to the mission, but I'm thinking it would be best to keep this between us for now. Something tells me the masses aren't gonna take the return of Hope's _dangerous l'Cie sorcery_ totally in stride, y'know?"

Rygdea let out a long sigh and crossed his arms over his chest. "It's definitely a matter we'll be needin' to handle delicately." He made a show of looking around at each of them. "Not to mention that if Hope's magic's returned, there's a good chance all yours will, too."

Lightning's eyes widened and she looked at Rygdea. She'd been so busy thinking about what this would mean for Hope that she hadn't considered the possibility that they might all regain their lost powers. It made sense. There was no reason for only Hope to get his magic back. Her eyes traveled back to the boy in question and she released his blanket to lift a hand to her chin. He looked back at her curiously. "You were our strongest magic user," she thought aloud. "That could be why your powers came back first." She dropped her hand and looked to him for his thoughts.

Hope shrugged. "Could be," he agreed. "It also could've had something to do with the shock of the situation." His eyes turned downward and his eyebrows furrowed in thought. It was an expression that Hope wore like an old and well-loved jacket. "If the subject perceives their life to be in danger, the latent ability within may respond—like a trigger."

Lightning pursed her lips at Hope speaking of his near-fatal fall so flippantly; as if all it amounted to was data to be analyzed. He was a bright kid but sometimes he worried her with how easily he was able to detach himself. It wasn't healthy for a boy his age to be impartial where his own safety was concerned. A part of her wondered if it was her own influence that had caused him to become so.

"Well," Snow spoke again, drawing the group's attention to himself. "There's no use in getting ahead of ourselves. Hope's still Hope, freaky l'Cie powers or not, and he's got both the Guardian Corps and the Academy on his side. The same goes for all of us. Whatever happens, it won't be like last time. The only thing we can do is keep Hope's situation on the down-low and continue on as we have been until more facts present themselves."

As much flack as Lightning gave him, she appreciated Snow for his ability to turn out simple, straight-forward solutions to complex problems. Far from the brash, charge-in-guns-blazing type that Lightning once accused him of being, Snow's real value lay in his ability to keep a level head in the face of adversity and to act as a foil for those who were prone to overthinking. She hid a small smile in the collar of her jacket before making a production of standing to draw everyone's eyes back to her. "The curry is getting cold," she said by way of transition. "I vote we eat and continue this discussion later."

These words spurred the small camp into action. Rygdea went to their packs to retrieve the bowls and spoons while Snow and Sazh cleared away space for Comelin to set out a folding table. In a matter of minutes, their places were set and Lightning helped Hope stand—he insisted on eating at the table with them—on shaky legs and guided him to his seat. He grimaced in pain as she pulled a sweater over his head and she frowned sadly when she saw the way he moved with great care, as if his whole body hurt. She squashed the urge to pick him up and carry him to the table. She knew he would hate that and she was a little afraid to be too handsy with him when she'd nearly gotten him killed just hours earlier.

The group made a point of discussing everything _but_ Hope's fall as they enjoyed their evening meal. Lightning was grateful for this and with their idle chatter about the weather and friendly joking a semblance of normalcy was able to return to the camp. Hope was alive and not seriously injured and they now had a lead in their investigation. The l'Cie bit was troubling, but Lightning found herself secretly grateful for the mysterious return of Hope's powers because it guaranteed that the safest place for him was here with them. There was no longer any danger of him being sent away. A part of her felt guilty for thinking so selfishly, but the feeling of relief at his staying far outweighed the guilt.

The group collectively decided to retire early that night and Lightning moved Hope's pallet into their shared tent and helped him settle in before taking her place beside him. It had been planned for them to share a tent from the start and to Lightning that just made her job all the easier. Supposing the l'Cie they met in the ruins became bold and decided to attack the camp, Lightning was in the best possible position to protect her young comrade. She had no intention of failing him a second time.

"Hey, Light," he called to her in a low voice so as not to be heard by their companions in the tents on either side of them.

Lightning hummed in reply as her eyes tried to find him in the dark. It was faint, but she could see the shadow of his face peeking out from his covers. "What is it, Hope?"

Hope's silhouette shifted as he moved an arm out from under his blanket to lay his hand atop the swell of her hip. "About earlier," he started. "I'm sorry. For scaring you."

Lightning freed her own hand and placed it over his face. "Don't apologize," she whispered more harshly than she meant to. She took a breath to calm herself and more softly said, "I _was_ scared. But Maker, Hope, you did absolutely nothing wrong. You saved my life and I failed you. The one who needs to apologize is me."

The weight of Hope's hand slid to the dip of her waist and then up to her shoulder and she felt his fingers twitch as if he wanted to go higher. She would have let him.

"There's…something else," he said quietly, his tone hesitant. Lightning could see his face a little more clearly now that her vision was adjusting. His eyes were watching her steadily as if the darkness didn't bother him at all.

"What?" she prompted when enough time had passed that she thought he might've changed his mind and clammed up.

"That is," he spoke at last, his eyes finally breaking their connection to look at nothing in particular. "There was a moment…when I thought I was going to die…" He trailed off and Lightning's heart gave an uncomfortable squeeze at the reminder of just how close they'd come to tragedy that afternoon. Hope was silent for a moment and it seemed to her that he was debating with himself about whether or not to follow through with what he planned to tell her. She waited patiently, knowing he would, and she wasn't disappointed. "I was in a really dark place. It was…like a wasteland. It was cold and silent and there was this brackish wind that tore across the land. I was only there for a minute, but I felt very strongly like I'd been there before. And I saw..."

He trailed off again and this time Lightning opted to give him a little nudge. "Saw what?"

Hope shook his head. The pressure of his hand on her shoulder increased just slightly. "There was this girl." The quality of his voice was different when he said this and Lightning got the very strong feeling he'd been about to say something else. "She looked about my age. Our eyes met and she said, 'The goddess' gift will expire. But not for many years. Go and make sure to take care of any regrets.'"

He averted his eyes again and Lightning heard him exhale softly. "Sorry. I know it's weird. I wouldn't have said anything about it but…well, as crazy as it sounds, I understood what she was talking about. It was something I knew really well. But after I woke up, I lost sight of it. I can't remember anymore." He sounded disappointed in himself for not being able to grasp the memory. Lightning could make out the hard line of his jaw.

She made a show of scoffing and she used her freed hand to cuff him on the cheek. "More magic and mumbo jumbo. We just came off the back of fighting Orphan. Don't talk to me about goddesses now."

Hope laughed softly at that. "You're right. There's probably a limit to how many deities a group of people can get mixed up with. I'll put it from my mind." He was silent for a handful of seconds, then he added, "But, you know…when I think about our battle with Orphan, it really feels like ages ago now. I know it's only been six months, but doesn't it feel like a lot has happened since then? Or maybe not happened, exactly, but…it feels different. _I_ feel different."

Lightning had to agree. They had all changed since the fall of Cocoon, each in their own way. Snow was mellower and more prone to introspection than he'd been before the fall and Sazh had loosened up and learned to look on the bright side and even Serah had changed. She'd become a woman Lightning could talk to rather than a teenager she had to look after. But of all of them, perhaps the ones who had changed the most were Hope and herself. When Lightning compared the her of this moment to the person she'd been before the fall, she almost couldn't reconcile the two women. The Lightning of "before" had been a hard and lonely person. She'd been driven only by the need to provide for her sister and she'd cut the rest of herself away in order to do that. Since the fall, though, she'd felt like those missing pieces had come back. At some point, without her knowing, she'd accepted Claire back into her heart.

And Hope. In Lightning's opinion, no one had changed as much as him. When she'd first met Hope not even a year ago he'd been young and scared and angry. He'd been a child in every sense of the word: naïve, moody, and quick to blame. In many ways, he and she had been similar, and in the end, it was that which had caused Lightning to extend a hand to him. But even before their battle with Orphan, that Hope had been wiped away and in the child's place had blossomed a thoughtful, passionate and intelligent young man. Since the fall, though, it was as if his evolution had shot into a J-curve. He'd gained confidence and shed most of his adolescent mannerisms. He talked like an adult and people noticed. It wasn't by his father's influence that he'd gained respect in the Academy nor simply his status as an ex-l'Cie that had won him the attention of the Guardian Corps high command.

"Yeah," she agreed. "Me too. It feels almost like a lifetime ago, huh?"

Hope hummed in agreement. The sound was a pleasant tenor that Lightning thought was quite soothing. She felt her eyelids begin to droop. He was quiet for a time, then he said, "Hey, Light?"

Lightning opened her eyes. "Hm?"

"I'm really glad that I met you."

Lightning exhaled a scoff to hide the way her heart fluttered at his words. Just when had she grown so soft? "Alright, you're getting a little _too_ sentimental now. Time for bed."

Hope laughed and retracted his hand to tuck it back into the warmth of his comforter. "Sweet dreams, Light," he bade as his eyes fell closed.

Lightning pulled her comforter more tightly around her shoulders and closed her own eyes. "Yeah. You too."

In a matter of minutes, she was fast asleep.

oO0Oo

* * *

Whew! An extra long chapter this time. I ended up changing a bunch of stuff in here at the last minute so there's a chance some of the writing's not so good. I was editing really late and my brain was in what I like to call Crap Mode where everything looks wrong and I honestly can't tell the difference between good edits and bad edits. I really should've slept on it and come back with a fresh set of eyes the next day but I didn't want to delay the chapter. I'll just have to hope that I didn't fudge it up too fantastically. Boy, I have a feeling I'm going to regret many things when I read this again later.


	6. Chapter 6

"Are you sure you're up for going out today? I'm concerned about that gash on your forehead."

As the group donned their winter coats and scarves and prepared to set out into the ruins again, Lightning was trying one final time to get Hope to remain at the camp with her. Now that they knew there was at least one errant l'Cie keeping tabs on the ruins, Rygdea was determined to smoke him out. Lightning was all in favor of this plan, but she wasn't so thrilled by the idea of Hope being a part of it when he was freshly injured. And she wasn't the only one.

"Yeah, kid. Why don't you take it easy today?" Snow backed her up. "The four of us are plenty to hunt down one stray l'Cie. You and Light can keep an eye on the entrance and make sure our friend doesn't try to make a break for it while we're inside."

Hope frowned, his silver eyebrows knitting together to show his distaste for this plan. However, Snow made a sound point—someone should stay behind to watch the entrance and after yesterday's incident, Hope's stamina wasn't going to be at its peak—so he held his tongue. Lightning commended Snow for thinking to use logic against him. It was the one sure-fire way to get Hope to back down and it seemed to work.

Hope, seeing that he was beat, sighed in resignation and plopped down onto a folding chair near the canopy tent's portable heater. "Fine. But I still think I'd be better utilized out there in the ruins. What are you going to do if you actually manage to find the guy? You'll be up against a _l'Cie_ , you know. Just how do you plan to fight someone like that without magic?"

Snow grinned and pumped his fists together. "Same way I fight everything else. Hit 'em real hard and hope they don't get back up."

Hope rolled his eyes and drew his legs up onto the chair to sit crisscross. He leaned an elbow on the armrest and plopped his chin onto his palm in a decidedly petulant manner. "I hope that works out for you."

Snow winked. "Hasn't failed yet."

Ten minutes later, the four males were bundled up and ready to go. Lightning saw them off with strict instructions to radio should they find anything and absolutely refrain from rushing into any fights unprepared. The men assured her they would curb any reckless tendencies—though Snow was grinning all the while so she wasn't completely convinced he would follow through on this—and promised to meet her and Hope back at the camp for lunch in a few hours.

Lightning sighed and shook her head as they disappeared into the ruins and wandered back over to the canopy tent where Hope had changed his position to sprawl lackadaisically on his chair. To be honest, she would've preferred to go with them, just like Hope, but they couldn't afford to leave Hope by himself and run the risk of him getting plucked right out from under their noses while they were off hunting. And Lightning wasn't about to leave him with any of the others. If something were to happen and she wasn't there to protect him she'd never forgive herself.

Still, it was going to be a long morning with just the two of them and nothing to do to kill the time.

oOo

"Got any eights?"

Lightning rolled her eyes. "You've asked me that three turns in a row now. Go fish."

Hope shrugged. "Just being cautious. What if I don't ask and that's the time you finally have one? I'd lose the whole set." He plucked a card from the rapidly diminishing deck on the table between them. He glanced at the card and his eyes widened. "Oh, look. An eight." He pulled three cards from his hand and combined them with the card he'd just drawn and laid the completed book on the table in front of him.

Lightning sighed and laid her own cards down. "Continuing at this point is meaningless. You've already won."

Hope grinned and with a lazy flick of his wrist gathered the cards in his hand into a neat stack. "I told you I'd get you back for the last game."

Lightning leaned back in her folding chair and lifted her chin to the ceiling. It had been nearly three hours and she and Hope were both bored out of their minds. It was a pure stroke of luck that Hope had noticed the deck of cards poking out from Sazh's bag, but card games were only fun for so long and after four consecutive games of Go Fish she and Hope had well and truly worn out their entertainment value.

When she finally looked back at Hope she saw that he'd gathered the cards back into deck form and was currently attempting to prop two of them against each other in the shape of a triangle. "Tell me you're not doing what I think you're doing," she said flatly.

Hope didn't even glance at her. "If what you think I'm doing is making a card tower, then yes, I absolutely am."

Lightning exhaled a long, suffering sigh and crossed her arms over her chest. "Not even I'm _that_ bored."

Hope smiled as the cards finally stayed in position and he drew two more to make another triangle next to the first. "That's too bad. I thought we could work on it together, but I understand if you're not up to the challenge."

Lightning's eyebrow twitched. "What do you think I am, a grade-schooler? You're not going to bait me into building that with you."

Hope shrugged again, his smile not faltering, and continued to place cards. "I'm not trying to bait you into doing anything. I understand that card towers aren't for everyone. You need both patience and a steady hand. I'm sure it's difficult for Snow, too."

Lightning uncrossed her arms to pinch the bridge of her nose. "You're going to keep this up until I give in just to make you shut up, aren't you."

Hope's smile widened.

"Ugh, fine. Just give me the damn cards."

Hope slid the deck across the table so that it was situated between them and Lightning grumblingly took a few cards from the top and began placing them horizontally over Hope's triangles.

The duo worked efficiently and ten minutes later they'd made quite an impressive tower. Watching it come together was actually pretty rewarding, and despite herself, Lightning found herself having fun. Not that she would admit that to Hope.

When they finally ran out of cards, Hope crossed his arms over his chest and nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad."

Lightning leaned back in her chair and regarded the creation with two raised eyebrows. "I'm amazed we didn't knock it over once."

Hope shot her a grin. "We should name it."

She looked at him oddly. "You want to name the tower?"

He nodded. "If we name it, it'll live on in our hearts even after it's gone. We put a lot of effort into this thing, you know?"

Lightning crossed her legs and leaned forward to lay a forearm atop her knee. "Alright. But since you were the one who roped me into helping you build it, it's only fair that I get to be the one to name it."

Hope made a show of rolling his eyes but he was smiling. "Fine. Shoot."

A smirk tugged the corners of her lips upward. "Dylan."

Immediately, Hope's expression to one of disbelief. "What?"

Her smirk widened. "You heard me. It's henceforth the Tower of Dylan. Treasure it always."

"You can't be serious," Hope protested. "That's like naming it Rick…or Steve. It's not tower-y at all."

Lightning shrugged. "You wanted a name and you got one. I won't hear any complaints."

Hope leaned back in his chair and let his arms hang over the sides of the armrests such that his knuckles brushed the ground. He was clearly regretting agreeing to let her name the tower and all Lightning could feel was smugness as she watched him quietly lament with her hands laced together in her lap.

Suddenly, Lightning's radio issued a crackle of static, causing both of them to sit upright. "Hey, Light, you read me?" It was Sazh's voice.

Lightning was quick to respond, switching seamlessly into soldier mode. "Loud and clear. You guys find something?"

"Nothing yet," Sazh replied. He sounded weary. "We're headed back your way now. Give us about thirty minutes."

Lightning couldn't help feeling a little disappointed at Sazh's lack of news. "Right. See you soon."

She ended the call and stood, tossing the radio onto her chair. Releasing a sigh, she turned to Hope. "Come on. Let's start lunch."

Hope nodded and made to stand as well but in the process his hip bumped the table and the card tower came tumbling down. He stopped and stared at the pile of cards that was once his tower sadly. "Dylan…"

o0o

True to his word, Sazh and the rest of their companions arrived approximately half an hour later hungry, cold, and empty handed.

"Whoever you two ran into yesterday, they're long gone," Snow announced as Hope handed him a piping hot bowl of instant stew. "We trekked all over those ruins and didn't find so much as a footprint in the snow. Place was quieter than Oerba."

"Could they be hiding in one of the buildings?" Hope questioned as he moved to Rygdea with another bowl.

Snow shrugged. "It's possible. But even if they are, I doubt their base of operations is in the ruins. Those buildings are drafty and crumbling. Any one of them could come tumbling down at any time. I'd wager that even if the person you two met yesterday is involved in our case, it's unlikely the survey team is being held here."

Hope hummed thoughtfully. "I was afraid of that," he admitted. "But we did learn one very useful thing even if we aren't any closer to finding the team, and that's that we're not as alone on Pulse as we thought we were."

Lightning crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. "Right. Whoever blasted us off that roof yesterday wasn't one of ours, that's for sure. If I had to guess, I'd say we've gone and stumbled onto somebody else's turf and they're not happy about it."

"But if that's the case, then why haven't they made any attempts to remove us?" Snow pointed out. "Why not take us out like the survey team? Six people wandering around in an empty city's gotta look like a much easier target than an entire armed outpost."

Lightning shook her head. "Who knows? At this point all this is purely speculation. We're lacking facts."

"Well, whatever the case," Rygdea chimed in, "it doesn't look like we're going to be learnin' much more pokin' around here. Especially not with a group this small. We'll head back to the outpost and report what happened. I'll radio Caragan and have him send a few more soldiers. I think we'll be needin' 'em if our search ends up leadin' us into a nest of Pulse l'Cie."

After lunch, the group packed up camp and saddled their chocobos for the long ride back to the outpost. Before they left, Lightning checked and redressed Hope's wound to make sure it was healing properly and not in danger of becoming infected. Hope sat obediently through the procedure and to his credit he didn't so much as wince when she prodded the gash. When everything was loaded up and the team was ready to depart, Rygdea gave the signal and they moved out.

As they rode, Lightning considered what they'd learned and what their next step should be. They would need to warn Rocher about the l'Cie threat and take measures to fortify the camp against a possible magical strike. It was lucky for them that it was Hope whose powers had returned as he had a talent for synergy. A few solid shell and protect spells would go a long way toward defending the outpost from l'Cie magic.

It was as she was musing quietly that Snow pulled his chocobo up beside hers. The sudden presence at her side jarred her from her thoughts and she looked at the large man inquiringly.

"Hey, Sis," he greeted her. "I just wanted to check in on you. Make sure you're not still beating yourself up about what happened yesterday."

She shook her head. "No. There's no point in dwelling on a mistake that I don't intend to repeat," she answered plainly.

Snow's lips quirked into a half-smile and he nodded. "I'm glad to hear it."

The two rode in silence for a time and Lightning was glad that Snow didn't try to fill it with meaningless chatter. More and more, the two of them were learning to get along as comrades and not just as two people connected by Serah. She had to admit that he was, at the very least, dependable. She snuck a peek him as he quietly guided his chocobo and found herself wondering for the first time if perhaps she would've fallen for a man like Snow had her life been different. If she hadn't cut Claire away, would she have been satisfied having a big, strong, protective boyfriend to keep her safe? The thought caused her to wrinkle her nose in distaste. No. Snow was a good guy but he'd never been her type.

So then, what was her type? Her eyes scanned the backs of her comrades riding ahead as she considered this question. Serah had said that she thought a civilian would be good for her. She'd said she would be best with a man who she could respect for being different from her. Whether that was true or not, Lightning couldn't say. She wished she could put the matter from her mind and keep pretending that the love of a partner wasn't something she desired, but she just wasn't as good at fooling herself these days as she used to be.

Lightning shook her head to dispel these thoughts. She was only twenty-one. It's not like she was in any danger of becoming a spinster. Not everyone got engaged at eighteen like her sister. Serah had simply gotten lucky and found the man of her dreams right away. Love very rarely worked out so nicely and neatly. But perhaps Lightning's problem was that she was waiting on a fairy tale. Maybe there was a part of her that expected love to be easy and clear cut like Snow and Serah's. But there was a big difference between Serah and Lightning and that was that Serah had always known what she wanted. Lightning did not. Every single one of Lightning's interpersonal relationships had snuck up on her. If her eventual romance worked out anything like her friendships, she probably wouldn't know she was in a relationship until well after it happened.

Snow must have been watching her out of the corner of his eye because he said, "Hey. You look like you've got something weighing on your mind. Wanna talk about it?"

 _Not even a little bit,_ she wanted to say, but instead she felt her mouth open and heard her own voice ask, "How did you know you were in love with Serah?"

Snow's eyebrows shot up and Lightning immediately kicked herself for not stopping the question. The last person she needed to have a feelings talk with was Snow.

"You want to know about Serah 'n me?" he asked. He sounded unsure, like a part of him suspected she was trying to trick him.

Now that the words were out, it was too late to take them back, so Lightning sighed internally and nodded. "Yeah. I'm curious."

Snow lifted a hand to rub at the back of his neck. "Huh…let's see. How do I put this?" He seemed to think for a moment and then said, "I guess I just knew."

Lightning's eyebrow twitched. She was about to tell Snow just how unhelpful an answer that was but then he elaborated. "It's like this: when you're interested in a person, you think about them more than other people. When they're nearby, you go out of your way to be close to them and interact with them. You find yourself trying to always present your best self around them. You follow?"

Lightning nodded. That sounded about right.

"Well, loving someone is like that but deeper. You still want to put your best self forward but not because you're trying to impress them or catch their eye, but because they make you want to be the best you can be for them. You seek out their company because more than anyone else they're someone you trust and feel comfortable around. Their happiness is your happiness and their pain is your pain. More than anything, they're someone you just want to be with. You're the happiest when they're near. That's the kind of person Serah is for me."

Lightning was silent as she considered Snow's words. He made it sound so simple. There was no doubt in her mind that Snow loved her sister. He'd made his feelings abundantly clear during their travels half a year ago. Nobody would go as far as he did for someone they weren't absolutely over the moon for. However, she wondered if that was really all there was to it. She understood the sort of love he'd just described. It was the love she herself felt for her sister, and to some degree Hope as well—the type of love that made you want to protect a person and be there for them. Perhaps she'd merely been overthinking it all this time. When she took the time to consider it, it made sense that familial love, friendship, and romantic love wouldn't be so different from one another.

To Lightning's surprise, this realization was actually reassuring. She'd been wasting so much time fretting about love and whether or not she would be any good at it, but her life was already full of love and she hadn't had to be anyone but herself to gain it. There was no reason romance had to be any different. There was no rule that said it had to be complicated. She shook her head with a small smile. As usual, she'd been looking at the problem from totally the wrong angle.

Snow saw the motion and smiled himself. "Was I able to help?"

She nodded. "Yeah, you were. Thanks."

Snow's smile broadened. Lightning could tell that he was pleased. She knew he always strived to be a good brother-in-law to her, and while he often fell a little short of the mark, he gave the effort his all and she admired that.

"Well," he said, lifting a hand to scratch at his chin a little sheepishly, "I don't pretend to be an expert on matters of the heart. I've only ever loved one girl and she's more than enough for me. But I know enough about how a man's brain works that I can say with confidence that there are guys out there who would wait their whole lives for a girl like you. You've already captured a few hearts, you know."

Lightning scoffed to hide the way her heart fluttered at his words. "I don't think it counts when they're only infatuated with the idea of me. If they really liked me, they'd grow some balls and talk to me." She lifted her chin to regard her companion with the ghost of a warning look. "But that aside, you're doing an awful lot of assuming, Snow. I don't recall ever saying anything about myself. Maybe I was asking for Hope."

To Lighting's surprise, Snow snorted as if she'd said something funny. She gave him a skeptical look and he quickly shook his head and held up his hand to mollify her before she decided to snap at him. "You're right," he allowed. "It's none of my business and I know better than to stick my nose where it doesn't belong. I won't say any more on the subject."

Lightning hesitated slightly before nodding in approval. She appreciated his respectfulness in not prying but his amusement confused her. A part of her wanted to ask about it but after a moment's deliberation she decided to let the matter go. Her curiosity wasn't worth resurrecting a subject she was glad to have dropped.

They rode in silence again after that and Lightning turned her attention to her surroundings. They were coming up on the Ascendant Scarp now and from there it would be a relatively short trip back to the outpost. She was glad for that as the cold had begun to permeate her winter coat and her cheeks had long gone numb. A quick check of her comrades showed that they fared similarly. Sazh's teeth were chattering as he spoke with Rygdea at the front of the group and just behind them Hope and Comelin rode in silence. Lightning could see the way Comelin hunched his shoulders against the cold air and Hope had leaned forward to press his body against his chocobo's neck.

It occurred to her, seeing Hope riding ahead of her, that it was a little odd that he hadn't fallen back to talk to her at all throughout the trip. Hope was only ever this quiet when he had something on his mind. She wondered if he was thinking about his l'Cie powers. Though they were trying to be optimistic, it was inevitable that there was going to be some drama when word of his returned magical abilities reached the public. He probably feared he would be ostracized again. Lightning wished it had been one of them, not him, to be saddled with this. Of all of them, Hope deserved a fresh start the most. Unlike the rest of them, he hadn't made his bed. He still had his whole life ahead of him. It wasn't fair of fate to keep sticking him with the short straw.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned her head to find Snow looking at her again. He must have followed the path of her eyes because he said, "Hope's strong. He won't let this beat him."

Lightning allowed the contact. She returned her gaze to Hope's back and said, "It's a rough lot for boy his age. But I wonder if 'normal' was always too much for a group like us to hope for."

Snow chuckled. "Probably," he agreed. "But maybe it's not so bad. Hope has a talent for magic. I always thought it was a shame that we spent all that time developing our l'Cie abilities just to have them taken away when we lost our brands. It's not like magic's inherently evil. There's a lotta good a kid like Hope can do with powers like that. The only hard part'll be getting the average Joes to let go of their prejudices."

Lightning issued a derisive grunt at that. "The only hard part. Right. You have a real talent for making near-insurmountable obstacles sound like a cakewalk."

Rather than taking offense, Snow grinned and said, "It's what makes me so charming."

Lightning awarded him with a dubiously arched eyebrow and pointedly said nothing to his remark. Beneath her, her chocobo lurched slightly as a rock shifted under its foot and it let out a short kweh of avian annoyance. Lightning absently patted its neck and guided it to a sturdier path. They were now out of the Deepgap and the gaping maw of the massif's massive canyon loomed to her left. She was careful to maintain a wide berth between herself and the edge as ice made their path a good deal more treacherous than in the summertime. She took a moment to brush away the snow building up on her sleeves and sent a silent appeal to whatever deity might be listening that they reached the outpost soon so she could curl up beside the heater in her hut. She didn't care if it made her look lame. Hope would probably join her.

"By the way," Snow interrupted her fantasy of warmth. "While we're on the subject of the kid, there's something that's been on my mind…"

Lightning perked up slightly in interest. "Something on your mind?" she repeated.

Snow nodded. "I've wanted to talk to you about it for a while now but I wasn't sure exactly how to put it into words." He turned his gaze to the teenager in question and his blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "He's changed," he said plainly. "I mean, we all have since the purge. But don't you think he's changed a bit _too_ much? The way he acts sometimes…it's kind of unsettling."

Lightning looked up at him in surprise. So, she wasn't the only one who found Hope's sudden leap in maturity odd.

"He acts like a kid but he talks and reasons like an adult. And he's smart. Way more than any kid his age oughtta be. He reads all these academic books and soaks the knowledge up like he's merely refreshing himself. It's bizarre." His eyebrows furrowed and he looked back at her. "But the strangest part of it all is that when I talk to him, it doesn't feel weird. It's only when I think about it later that it occurs to me that his behavior isn't normal."

Lightning nodded. Hearing Snow speak of his change felt like déjà vu. It was just last night that Hope himself had expressed the very same sentiment. "He has changed," she agreed. "It took a long time for me to notice it, too. He's always been sharp so in the beginning I didn't give it much thought, but if you compare him with the kids at Serah's school it's hard not to see it."

Snow's frown deepened. "You think it has something to do with being branded?"

Lightning shook her head. "That was my thought, too, but it's anyone's guess. Who knows what kinds of effects being branded by a fal'Cie has on the mind of an adolescent? It's not like we have a big sample size to study."

Snow lifted a hand to his chin. "It seems a little weird, though," he pointed out. "I mean, you and I really aren't that much older than Hope in the grand scheme of things. And Serah was eighteen when she was branded. You'd think we'd see some effects ourselves."

"Then maybe it is just Hope," she said with a single shoulder shrug.

A corner of Snow's mouth rose. "Maybe."

Lightning looked back at Hope's slouched form riding ahead of them. Her eyes travelled upward over the curve of his back and lingered briefly on the smooth slope of his shoulders. He'd broadened a bit in the past half year but his frame was still slight. She knew he'd never have Snow's tank-like physique. Her eyes moved upward again to the gentle arch of his neck neatly encased by a black, slim-cut sweater, and she wondered if it was wrong of her to think that his build was actually quite attractive. She shook her head and reprimanded herself for thinking such a strange thing. Of course Hope was a good-looking kid. Anyone would agree. Just because she found him attractive aesthetically didn't mean she was attracted to him. She quickly banished any such notion and determined to never revisit it.

The group spent the rest of the ride largely in silence. There were a few pockets of chatter here and there but for the most part they were all too tired and miserable from the cold to muster up the energy to be social. This suited Lightning just fine as it meant there was nothing to distract her from her fantasy of warm baths and soft beds. She was beginning to wonder if this long winter would ever end.

When the outpost finally came into view, Lightning let out a breath of relief. At last, she would be able to ditch this smelly bird and give her sore rear a much-needed break. She'd already sussed out a plan of attack. First, of course, would be the report to Lieutenant Rocher. After that, she would hit the showers and wash off this Maker-damned winter, and then she would commandeer the radio and smooth out with a nice, long chat with Serah. She wanted to be the one to break the news of the possible return of their powers. Serah had also been a l'Cie, so it wasn't outside the realm of possibility that she would develop magical abilities as well. The last thing they needed was for her to accidently shoot off a fire spell and send the whole settlement into a panic.

Right as they reached the camp, Hope pulled his chocobo up beside hers. He looked weary and, in her opinion, slightly ill. His face was pale and his lips were pursed as if in pain. Seeing him sent a jolt of concern through her.

"Hey. Are you okay?" she asked, reaching out to lay a hand on his shoulder.

He grimaced but nodded. "I'm fine. The ride just didn't agree with my injuries."

Lightning frowned and moved her hand to touch his shoulder blade delicately. "If you were in pain, you should've said so earlier," she chastised him gently.

Hope shook his head. "It's nothing, really. It's just been a while since I've gotten roughed up like this and I've grown soft." He removed a hand from his bird's reins to gingerly touch his side.

Lightning sighed and moved her hand up to his head to ruffle his hair. "We'll get you checked once we're done with command," she promised. "You probably bruised something."

Hope nodded and spurred his chocobo ahead again to join Sazh and Rygdea at the stables. Lightning followed after at her own pace, letting the boys finish tethering their birds before she brought hers in. Looking around, the camp was as quiet and deserted as ever. She'd been half expecting someone to come out to greet them, but she supposed Rocher's team was busy with their own tasks.

The group waited for her and Snow to finish stabling their chocobos before setting off in the direction of command. Lightning took her usual place beside Hope and she watched him carefully out of the corner of her eye as they walked to make sure he was faring alright. He was definitely favoring his right leg more than he had been that morning and his hand was firmly attached to his side. It was clear to her now that he was much more injured than he'd let on that morning. She was both impressed and concerned by how well he'd managed to keep his pain hidden from her. They were going to have to have a talk about that later.

Up ahead of them, Sazh had placed his hands on his hips and was looking around at the scattering of huts with an unimpressed expression. "Man, I didn't expect them to roll out a full welcome committee, but you'd think someone around here would be curious enough to come out and ask if we found anything."

Beside him, Comelin's eyes swept about the camp as well. He wore a serious expression. "Indeed," he agreed. "This is a little odd, isn't it? Someone has to have heard us return, so why hasn't anyone appeared?"

All at once, realization hit Lightning like the business end of Fang's Taming Pole. Her eyes narrowed and she left Hope's side to sweep ahead of the group. "It can't be…" she uttered as she power walked the rest of the way to the command hut.

Behind her, Snow made a sudden noise of understanding and he hurried his pace to catch up with her. "Hey. You don't think…"

He didn't get the chance to finish because Lightning was already throwing the door open and marching brusquely inside. She stopped dead just past the door as her eyes found precisely what she'd feared they would:

Nothing. The place was empty.

oO0Oo

* * *

WELP.

Crit's gettin' real now, ladies and gents. I'm sure many of you anticipated something would happen while our heroes were gone. It is a case of vanishing soldiers, after all.

Once again, I want to say thank you to all the people who left comments on the previous chapters. I was really happy to read them. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you again in the next one.


	7. Chapter 7

"You've gotta be kidding me," Snow vocalized Lightning's own thoughts as he pushed past her and walked to the center of the room. "We were gone for one night!"

Lightning didn't waste time being confused. She turned on her heel and marched right back out of the hut. "Spread out and check the other buildings," she barked to the group who now seemed to be realizing what had happened. "We need to move fast."

Was this a coincidence? Or had their enemy been waiting for them to leave so they could take out Rocher's team? Perhaps the plan had been to take both teams out when their forces were divided. It would explain the watcher in the ruins. Whatever the case, they needed to look for clues now while the case was still fresh.

She saw Rygdea and Comelin nod. Sazh had already freed his guns from their holsters before the words had finished leaving her mouth. She swept past them and made a beeline for Hope. She wasn't about to let him go off on his own in his condition. She grabbed his arm as gently as she could in her haste. He looked up at her startled. "You're staying with me," was all she said as she began power-walking back in the direction they'd just come from. Hope could only nod as he stumbled to follow.

The last thing Lightning expected as they reentered the main part of camp was for her whole body to be seized by a sudden and powerful electrical shock. She cried out in pain as foreign thunder magic coursed through her. Her muscles spasmed and her jaw clenched under the force of the charge. It ended only when Hope pulled her roughly backward, freeing her from the current. Unable to maintain her stance, she fell to one knee, her body still convulsing with residual energy. "What the _hell_ —" she started but she was cut off when an unfamiliar figure stepped into her line of sight and placed the tip of a blade at her throat.

"Sorry, but I can't let you go anywhere."

Lightning shook off the remnants of the spell and looked up. The man who stood before her was tall—six foot at least—and had shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Snow had been subdued as well. She imagined the rest of their group was in a similar predicament.

Just where had these people come from? Lightning hadn't sensed them at all. She glared up at the blue-eyed man and jerked her head back to show that she wasn't intimidated by him. "Who the hell are you?" she asked coolly. From his dress, she surmised that he was not Cocoon born. Under his dark, fur-trimmed cloak, he wore a black shirt decorated with colorful beads and long, loose-fitted blue pants.

For a drawn-out moment nothing was said as those dark blue eyes stared down at her. The look almost seemed appraising. Then his expression hardened and he gestured to his companions. At once, Lightning and her team were hoisted up by their collars and the sword at her throat was pulled in closer as the mystery man circled around behind her and strong-armed her into a march. "If you want answers, you'll come quietly," was all he said as he shoved her toward the entrance of the camp.

Behind her, Lightning heard Snow protest the rough treatment but he was swiftly silenced by his captor, a man who was somehow taller than him and twice as thick. Lightning craned her neck as much as she was able and just managed to make out Hope being led by a female whose dress reminded her of Vanille, though this woman had a hard, calculating look about her and quite a bit more muscle. Hope's gaze met hers and she saw determination flash in his eyes. With nothing more than that look, she understood immediately what he was scheming.

To buy her companion a distraction, Lightning elected to try another shot at conversation. "Are you the one who attacked us in the ruins?" she asked, pointedly ignoring the blade resting against her throat.

The man glanced down at her and his mouth tightened briefly. Lightning thought he wouldn't answer but then his expression relaxed and he said, "No."

When it appeared that he was going to leave it at that, Lightning tried again. "But you know the person who did?"

Blue eyes found hers again and Lightning could read annoyance in them this time. "I thought I told you to be quiet." His delivery was less angry and more exasperated, which Lightning found curious.

She raised a brow to show just how unconcerned she was with complying with his directions. "If you were hoping for cooperation, you might've tried greeting us cordially instead of jumping us and taking us hostage. Just a tip for next time." The corner of her mouth rose very briefly into the slightest of smirks. "Now, do you know that guy or not?"

Her captor gave her a look that was a mashup of incredulous and perplexed. "I don't really think you're in any position to be demanding information from me. Or hadn't you noticed the blade at your throat?"

Lightning's bland expression hardened. "The only thing I see is a child with a toy. If you had any intention of harming us, you would've done it immediately and without all the fluff." She craned her neck to glare up at him. "But that was already your second mistake," she revealed. "Your first was thinking to take us on without knowing anything about us." Abruptly, she wrenched her head back and in a sharp voice called, "Hope! Do it!"

What followed was a minute of pure chaos as six bolts of powerful lightning magic crashed into their captors, causing them to drop their weapons and fall to their knees in pain. Lightning's companions wasted no time unleashing hell unto the group. Snow broke free of the giant's hold and aimed a swift jab at his head, felling him easily. Sazh did the same, slamming the butt of one of his guns into his captor's temple. The man crumpled into a heap on the frozen ground. Rygdea and Comelin were quick to draw their own weapons and in a matter of seconds they'd reversed their positions, the men on the ground becoming the captives as Guardian Corps issued semi-automatics were levelled at their foreheads.

Lightning tore free of the blue-eyed man and swiftly drew her gunblade. It had been a while since she'd had a good fight and she was more than ready to lay down some punishment on this man. Of course, first and foremost, she fully intended to get answers. She shifted her blade into its gun form and pointed the business end at the man on the ground. She opened her mouth to repeat her demand from before but the words died in her throat when a familiar pained gasp was issued behind her.

She whipped her head around and what she saw caused a lump of fear to rise in her throat. The woman dressed like Vanille hadn't fallen and she had Hope in a vice-like grip. One hand cupped his jaw, forcefully pushing his head back to bear his unprotected throat and the other pressed a glinting blade firmly against the exposed flesh above his collar. As Lightning watched, the edge bit into his skin and a line of deep crimson appeared. Hope had his hands on her arm, trying to tug the appendage away, but his efforts only resulted in her pressing the blade in deeper.

Lightning's eyes narrowed dangerously and off to the side Snow sucked in a breath. The woman just scowled at them and held the weakly struggling teenager fast. Lightning's captive took advantage of her distraction and rolled out of the path of her gun. Before she could stop him, he sprang to his feet and adopted a defensive stance, trapping her and Snow between himself and the woman. Sazh, the only other person without a hostage, was left with no other choice than to aim his guns at both enemies simultaneously.

"Looks like we've reached a stalemate," the blue-eyed man said coolly, not moving a muscle.

Lightning clenched her teeth and glanced back and forth between him and the woman holding Hope. It didn't escape her notice when the man's eyes flickered briefly to his companion and a muscle in his cheek twitched. Her eyes narrowed at the telling sign.

The woman was the next to speak and her voice was as stony as her face. "To think Cocoon scum like you would have a magic user in your group." She looked down at her captive and as the group watched she lowered her face close to his and pulled his chin even further back so that their eyes met. "I should kill you now so you don't cause trouble for us later."

Hope could only gasp shallowly as the blade continued to bite further into his flesh. Blood trickled a thin red line down his throat to stain the collar of his sweater.

To Lightning's surprise, it wasn't her or even Snow who moved first to protest, it was the blue-eyed man. His expression hardened and he looked sternly at the woman. "We didn't come here to take lives, Pressa," he spoke to her, a note of challenge entering his voice. "Yeul wants to speak with them."

Pressa was unmoved. She dragged her gaze up to her companion and fixed him with a dead-eyed stare. "Her Grace can suffer the loss of a single boy," she said gruffly. "We can't risk bringing a magic user back to the village."

Lightning's hand tightened around the grip of her gun. While she'd been able to surmise from the start that Blue Eyes wasn't interested in harming them, this woman was another story. Her expression and tone made it clear that she meant business and Lightning fully believed that she would slice Hope's throat open without batting an eye if they didn't find a way to convince her otherwise in the next few seconds.

"If you kill him, there will be nothing stopping us from putting you down swiftly and immediately," she reminded her, nodding to Sazh who still had his guns trained on both her and Blue Eyes.

The corners of the woman's mouth lifted upward into an unimpressed little smirk. It was the first hint of personality she'd shown the whole while and it did nothing to still Lightning's nerves. "You're welcomed to try, but I'll just use this kid's body as a meat shield. Watching you punch him full of holes would save me the trouble of making sure he's dead." She tapped two fingers against Hope's chin and her smirk only grew when he looked up at her with pained green eyes.

Lightning's heart clenched at the way Hope trembled in her grip. She was at an impasse. The woman was right. There was literally nothing stopping her from severing his windpipe right then and there. She held all the cards and Lightning was utterly powerless.

Blue Eyes took a step forward and shook his head. His eyes were fixed on Pressa. "Yeul's directions were very clear. She wants _all_ of them brought to the village. If your plan is to disobey her, I'll deal with you myself."

The woman made a noise of irritation and to Lightning's great relief, she relaxed her grip enough that the blade no longer cut into Hope's throat. "Fine. But if he so much as thinks of using magic again, I'll take his head clean off."

Blue Eyes nodded and turned his attention to Lightning and Snow. His expression was tight. "If you know what's good for you, you'll come without a fuss. I can't guarantee your companion's safety should you refuse."

Lightning levelled a scowl at him and bit her tongue to rein in her fury. There was no way she was going to let this slide. Nobody threatened Hope and walked away scot-free. But for now, there was no other option available to her but to obey. She would just have to find an opportunity to get even later.

Looking back at her companions, she nodded briskly. Snow sighed and straightened out of his offensive stance and Sazh lowered his guns. They knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Well, she thought as Blue Eyes rounded them up and began once again to lead them away, at least they knew now what happened to the survey team.

o0o

It turned out Hope's theory about subterranean tunnels had been right on the mark.

At first, Lightning was confused when they were marched straight to the edge of the canyon. It was clear from the body language of their captors that they were meant to go down, but she hadn't the foggiest idea how they were to go about it without straight-up jumping to their deaths.

Her question was answered when a familiar device was placed in her hand by the blue-eyed man.

"This is…a grav-con unit?" she observed as she curled her fingers around the gift. She'd never suspected Gran Pulse of possessing AMP technology.

"Bingo," Blue Eyes confirmed. "I assume you know how it works?"

Lightning simply nodded and faced the edge of the canyon. That was one more question answered.

The group took turns jumping into the chasm, first Pressa along with Hope, then the four nameless Pulsian warriors who had aided in the ambush, then Lightning and her team, and finally Blue Eyes took up the rear. The bottom of the chasm was dark and utterly, bone-chillingly cold. It was all Lightning could do to keep her back straight as she and her team attempted to get their bearings in the darkness. She saw Blue Eyes produce some manner of glowing stick from the folds of his cloak which he used to illuminate their surroundings.

The first thing Lightning noticed once the darkness had been chased away was the sheer plethora of caverns that surrounded them. The number was mind-blowing. She doubted even the most experienced geographer could have suspected that such a network of tunnels existed beneath the massif. Perhaps it was a blessing that their targets had come to them because she didn't want to think about all the time it would've taken them to investigate every one of them.

Blue Eyes led them into a tunnel that looked effectively just like every other tunnel and they began the long, cold trek toward wherever it was their destination lay.

The path was rugged and every now and again Lightning heard Hope stumble in the dark and let out a whimper as Pressa's blade cut into his throat. She desperately wanted to go to him but a warning snarl from the foul-tempered woman kept her away. Beside her, Sazh periodically turned his head to glare at her and Lightning could see his fingers itching for his guns. Lightning silently cursed as she fought the urge to unholster her gunblade. With each pained noise Hope issued, it became harder for her to refrain from drawing her weapon and plunging it right into the woman's smug face.

In order to distract herself from thoughts of murder, Lightning sped up to walk alongside Blue Eyes. If she couldn't get them out of this situation, she was determined to at least get some answers.

"You," she barked, reaching up to grasp his shoulder roughly. "I want to know who you are and exactly where you're taking us. You _will_ give me answers."

Despite her rough handling and abrasive tone, Blue Eyes didn't make any motion to remove her, nor did he immediately snub her. Instead, he looked calmly down at her and said, "Noel."

Caught off guard by his cooperativeness, Lightning could only ask, "What?"

"My name," he explained patiently. "It's Noel. Noel Kreiss. And as for where we're taking you, it's the village of the Farseers."

Lightning pulled back her hand and regarded the young man with confusion and suspicion. Her eyes narrowed as she recalled Hope's story in the ruins the day before. "The Farseers were supposed to have died out a long time ago."

Noel shrugged. "Sounds like you were mistaken."

Lightning suppressed a growl, not caring for his flippant attitude. Rather than fighting him, however, she chose to continue her interrogation. There was nothing to be gained from losing her temper now. "And? What do the _Farseers_ want with us? Why have you been abducting our soldiers?"

This time Noel sighed and Lightning watched him raise a hand to rub at the spot between his eyes. "Cripes, is this what you were like before? I'm starting to understand why B—"

All at once, he stopped. Lightning waited for him to continue, but instead he shook his head and said, "Sorry. Forget that. Everything will be explained once we get to the village. That, I promise you."

Lightning eyed the tall man warily. So far, none of his actions had yet to make any sense to her. Was he her enemy or wasn't he? He was awfully charitable in answering her questions for someone who had ambushed and taken her and her friends hostage. Particularly compared with his would-be companion, Pressa. It didn't seem as though he harbored any ill-will toward them personally but at the same time he clearly wasn't about to let them go free.

"Fine," she allowed. She raised a hand to sweep her hair back as they continued along the path. "But know this. Your girlfriend back there hurt my partner and that isn't something that I intend to overlook. I don't care what this Yeul of yours has to say, I _will_ punish Pressa for every drop of blood she's drawn from him. Am I clear?"

Noel actually stopped momentarily to regard her with an odd look. It was only then that Lightning noticed how far ahead of the others they'd walked. He blinked down at her and shook his head slowly before beginning to move again. With some amazement, he muttered, "Wow, okay. So that _is_ a thing." He cleared his throat a little awkwardly and, out loud, said, "I won't stop you. Our orders were to bring you to the village unharmed, and to be honest, I can't condone her treatment of your friend. We're not the bad guy."

Lightning's expression remained stormy. Noel's assurances didn't hold much water when this was already the second time his people had attacked them. She had no intention of rolling over and cooperating with him or his leader.

After what felt like ages of walking through freezing tunnels, Lightning couldn't have been more relieved when they turned a bend and daylight greeted her eyes. At last, they were leaving the frigid caverns behind. She just hoped this meant their goal was close.

As they exited out into the light, Lightning saw Sazh and Rygdea shade their eyes with their hands. Comelin drew his coat more tightly about himself as they were accosted by an icy wind. Lightning's eyes didn't linger on them. Instead, she turned back to check on Hope.

What she saw caused the simmering pot of her fury to ice over and in its place a fear cold as Hope's blizzard gripped her heart. Hope wasn't walking anymore. Rather, he was being dragged along by Pressa who didn't appear affected one way or the other by having to haul him bodily along as she continued to walk with her blade at his throat. Hope's face was ghostly white. His arms still clutched at hers but there was no force behind them anymore. It looked more as if he was trying to anchor himself than pull her away.

This, however, was nothing more than a backdrop to the sight that greeted Lightning's eyes when she looked at his throat. The single cut from before had become several angry red slices and a river of crusted blood now coated his neck and soaked the front of his sweater. Pressa's hand as well glistened claret as she uncaringly continued to hold her knife to his massacred skin. The sight of it caused Lightning's stomach to turn and for a moment she thought she might be sick.

"Holy hell," Snow breathed, coming up beside her. He too had his eyes fixed on the carnage that was Hope's neck.

Alongside the fear, a mighty rage flared up inside Lightning. Heedless of the consequences, her hand reached for her gunblade. She might really have put the weapon through the woman had Noel not stepped past her and marched right up to Pressa, fury of his own blazing like hot coals in his eyes. " _Pressa_ ," he said her name in a voice as hard as the rock that surrounded them. "You've gone too far. Release him _now_."

Pressa lifted her gaze to his, meeting his challenge. "No. I'm escorting the viper to the village, just as you asked."

Noel shook his head wildly. His expression was livid. " _Cut the crap_." His hand shot forward and grasped her arm in a vice grip. "At this rate, he's going to bleed out before we make it the rest of the way. Our orders were to escort Lightning's group unharmed. Does he look unharmed to you?"

At this point, the other warriors had gathered at Noel's side and looked to be waiting for instructions. Pressa's gaze found them and her air of aloofness faltered just slightly. Still, she held her ground. "He's a danger to the village. I merely doing my sworn duty of protecting Her Grace—"

" _No_ ," Noel cut her off. "You were given clear instructions and you disobeyed them. It isn't up to you to decide which orders to follow. You have no grasp of the gravity of your decision." As the group looked on, he produced a thin knife from within the folds of his cloak and placed the sharp tip against the soft flesh of the underside of her chin. "To kill him is to go against the wish of the goddess herself. You _will_ be tried for this crime. Now _release him_."

Lightning watched with bated breath as Pressa glowered at Noel. Would she do as she was told or would she open Hope's throat right in front of them? There was nothing Lightning could do but pray that Pressa backed down.

"L-Light," Hope's weak voice broke the charged silence between the two parties. Lightning's heart rose into her throat when fresh blood trickled from the spot where Pressa's blade dug into him.

"Don't speak!" she barked back, taking an unconscious step forward. "Just stay quiet."

Snow took this moment to speak up. "He's just a kid!" he tried to reason with the woman holding Hope's life in her hands. "Let him go. _Please_. We promise not to touch a single hair on anyone in your village. We don't wish anyone harm. All we want is to live in peace."

Amazingly, Snow's appeal seemed to finally get through to Pressa. She clenched her teeth and looked down at Hope hard for a handful of tense seconds before finally relaxing her grip and lowering her dagger.

Without her support, Hope crumpled to his knees. He would've fallen face-first onto the ground had Snow not rushed forward and caught him. The large man held Hope's smaller form against him securely and brought a hand up to cradle the back of his head. "Hey," he said softly. "I've got you, buddy. You're safe now."

The moment Hope was out of harm's way, Noel gave his fellow warriors a signal and they surrounded Pressa. The woman made a noise of contempt but allowed herself to be captured. Her hands were bound behind her back and a soldier remained at her side to escort her.

Satisfied, Noel returned the knife to his cloak and turned to Hope. He walked slowly over to the bleeding teenager and knelt down in front of him. Snow gave him a warning look but made no motion to send him away.

"Listen," Noel said, laying an arm across his knee and looking Hope in the eye. "I'm sorry for the way Pressa treated you. I truly am. Had I known you could use magic, I never would've allowed her along on this mission." He exhaled and directed his gaze at the ground momentarily as he shook his head. When he looked up again, he turned his gaze on Snow. "There are medical supplies at the village. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I promise you that no further harm will come to any of you if you come along with us."

Lightning stepped forward, a scowl on her face. "And be locked up like the rest of the soldiers you've kidnapped? Sorry, but we're not interested in becoming your prisoners."

Noel shook his head again and stood so that he was on her level. "That's not our intention. You have my word that you won't be held against your will. Our leader merely wishes to speak with you."

Lightning raised a skeptical eyebrow. Noel's tune had sure changed from before. "If that's the case, then why ambush us? You could've just asked us to come with you from the start."

Noel sighed and raised a hand to push back his hair. He looked frustrated, though the source of his frustration seemed to lie elsewhere. "Look, that's…it's complicated. I argued that you'd agree to come along if we just explained things, but others in the village were convinced that you'd refuse. Unfortunately, the final decision wasn't up to me."

Lightning wanted to say more but Snow beat her to the punch. His expression was uncharacteristically sober as he said, "You swear that we won't be locked up? And that Hope will get the help he needs?"

Lightning rounded on the large man with a glower of disbelief. "Snow!" she started to protest but he stopped her with a hand.

"Sis," he appealed to her. "We don't have time to waste arguing."

That silenced her. He was right, they didn't have time for this. She may not like it, but the village of the Farseers was probably far closer by this point than their own camp. She clenched her hands into fists at her side and held back the protest on the tip of her tongue. "Fine," she said instead. She looked Noel straight in the eye and jerked her head toward the path. "Take us to your village."

Noel nodded and motioned for the group to follow. Lightning bit her lip in frustration as once again, Hope was lifted into Snow's arms. He didn't protest, his eyes staring vacantly off into the aether. She could only imagine how much pain he was in. Seeing his front covered in sticky, dark blood and the patchwork of slices on his throat caused the feeling of sickness to return and she was forced to look away. How could anyone justify such treatment of another human being, much less a teenager? There was a lot she was willing to do in the name of protecting the people she loved but torturing a child who was only trying to defend himself was well and truly out of line no matter how one tried to justify it.

Her thoughts must have been apparent on her face because Sazh and Rygdea sped up to walk beside her. Rygdea laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. "I know, Lightning," he said simply. His own voice was thick with barely contained anger.

Sazh had his eyes fixed on Pressa, who was walking quietly ahead of them, led along by her guard. "To do such a thing to a kid." He ripped his eyes away and looked instead at the ground. "Despicable. I'll never understand what goes on inside the head of someone who can do something like that."

Lightning took a deep breath in an attempt to rein in her own rapidly resurfacing fury and nodded. "This isn't over," she swore. "These Farseers have a lot to answer for, and unfortunately for them, I'm not feeling very polite at the moment."

Rygdea's lips quirked into a small smirk. He nodded in approval. "I know an officer of my station shouldn't be sayin' such things, but Hope's like a nephew to me and I wouldn't be able to face Bartholomew again if I didn't give his son's attackers some hell."

Sazh sighed and rubbed the side of his head. "Not that I don't feel the same, but try not to throw diplomacy completely out the window, alright? We've still got the survey team to think about. Remember the mission."

Lightning glanced sidelong at the pilot. Although she wasn't feeling very receptive to notion of diplomacy, she knew he was right. She couldn't risk the safety of fellow corps soldiers for the sake of her own personal justice. She sighed and resolved to at least be somewhat tactful.

 _Somewhat_ being the operative word.

oO0Oo

* * *

Enter: Noel

Show of hands, who guessed that Noel would be appearing in this story? "But Advocaat," you're saying, "He can't be in this time period. You can't just put characters wherever you want just because you like them." To which I say, "Screw you. Noel's mah boi."

(I jest.)

But honestly, there's a method to my madness so just bear with me.

(Also, and this is a big secret so don't tell anyone, there's a small (huge) traitorous part of my heart that super ships Noel and Serah and wants to give the Noerah pairing a little somethin'-somethin' in this fic but the part of me that adores Snow is keeping me in line. Perhaps in a future story…)

Anyhoo, drop a comment if you feel so inclined. As usual, I love reading what you have to say.


	8. Chapter 8

As it turned out, they were much closer to the village than Lightning had anticipated. After leaving the cavern, their path took them round a short ridge maybe half a mile long and there it was, nestled in a narrow canyon. It was so neatly tucked away that she imagined the only way anyone would ever find it was by taking their exact tunnel.

The village was small but it spread across the canyon with several huts going as far as to climb the canyon walls. These were reachable by ladders and a series of interconnected aerial bridges that linked clusters of them together. Both the bridges and the huts were crafted largely from wood and clay and colorful banners decorated with geometric designs hung from the bridges and dotted the cliff sides, adding to the tribal aesthetic. The place was actually quite pretty and Lightning found herself irritated by that as in her opinion a village of kidnappers had no business looking so habitable.

A group of men and women dressed like warriors came to greet them as they arrived and Noel wasted no time dolling out instructions, the first of which being to notify the town's physician that she would be receiving an urgent patient. Lightning was about to demand that she be allowed to remain with Hope but Noel seemed to sense her intent because he turned to her straight after and said, "We won't keep you from him. Come on, I'll show you the place."

Lightning pursed her lips and nodded and she and Snow followed without comment as he led them down into the main part of the village. A large part of her expected the villagers they passed to greet them with hostility but apart from a few curious looks they were allowed to proceed unmolested. As they walked, Lightning kept a careful eye out for places that the survey team or Rocher's squad might be being held. There were a few residences large enough to house around ten people by her estimation, but most were small and probably meant for a family of four at most. The largest structure lay at the rear of the village and judging by its relative grandeur it could only be the abode of the village leader. Her eyes narrowed when they landed on it and she drew a mental map of the avenues that led to it for future reference.

The physician's hut was in the center of the village, well situated for easy access in the event of a crisis. Lightning imagined it was frequented mainly by soldiers. She had no doubt that keeping this place safe from marauding monsters cost its defenders more than just the occasional scrape. Right as they reached it, the ornate, colorfully painted wooden door swung open and a middle-aged woman dressed in a plain-looking frock stepped out to meet them. She took one look at the bloodied teenager in Snow's arms and her face pinched into an expression sour enough to rival a Bodhum lime. "Goodness gracious," she said in a low but feminine timber. "Hurry and get him inside. That's going to scar something awful if we don't get him fixed up right away."

Snow did as he was told and followed the woman into the hut. Lightning waited for Noel to enter as well but he shook his head. "I need to go take care of Pressa," he said, his expression once again hard. "If I don't explain what happened myself she'll probably be let off with just a slap on the wrist. For now, feel free to stay here with Hope. I'll be along later to get you set up with lodgings."

Lightning merely inclined her head in gratitude and turned to follow Snow. Noel's habit of referring to them by name was a bit unsettling but she pushed his peculiarities to the back of her mind and focused instead on the situation with Hope.

Upon entering the hut, she was pleased to find that despite its rustic appearance the place was heated. The temperature difference caused her skin to prickle and she tucked her hands into her armpits to warm them faster. Snow was laying Hope onto one of several unoccupied beds and the boy grunted in pain as the new position stretched his throat. His hair splayed across the pillow, its soft silver a contrast against the sterile white. Lightning hovered just to the side as the doctor went about inspecting him with a critical eye. She clucked in disapproval. "This is Pressa's work, no doubt about it. Etro forgive me for saying so, but just what did the captain think would happen if he sent her along? He's far too rash." She continued to grumble to herself as she wet a cloth and began patting down the wounds. Hope clenched his teeth in an effort not to cry out.

"Captain?" Lightning echoed, more to distract herself from Hope's pain than any real curiosity. "You mean Noel?"

The doctor didn't look up from her work but she did deign to answer Lightning's question. "Not Noel, Kurlic. You lot'll be meeting him soon enough, no doubt. And you'll promptly wish you hadn't."

Now Lightning actually was interested. So, Noel wasn't the only person calling shots in this village. From the sound of things, he and this Captain Kurlic were of somewhat different mindsets about the treatment of outsiders. She wondered if Kurlic was one of the 'others' Noel had been referring to when he'd said that 'others in the village' thought they'd refuse to see Yeul without a little violent incentive. The doctor seemed an easy and ready source of information so she decided to inquire further. "Is this Captain Kurlic Noel's superior?"

It was a moment before the doctor answered. She'd discarded the bloodied cloth and was now in the midst of applying a grayish goop to the slices on Hope's neck. It appeared to function as a kind of adhesive. With each cut, she pinched the severed flesh together and sealed it with the goop. From the way Hope's eyes stared hazily up at the ceiling the process was every bit as uncomfortable as it looked. Finally, she said, "Not directly. The two of them operate mostly independently of one another. Kurlic leads our soldiers while Noel attends directly to the seeress as her personal guardian. Well, that's how it's supposed to be. Lately, though, those two have been butting heads and factions have begun to form in the ranks in support of one or the other." She finished sealing the last cut and turned to wash her hands in a nearby basin. "You see, Kurlic is very traditional and he appeals to those who wish for our tribe to remain as it always has been. That means the immediate termination of any outsiders who might jeopardize our secrecy. Noel would rather protect the tribe through compromise. He thinks he can convince your people to pull out of the massif and thus eliminate any risk of this village being discovered."

"So, that's what this is all about?" Lightning shook her head in disbelief. "You were worried that the vipers from Cocoon would eventually stumble upon this village so you spirited them away. I suppose the hope was that we'd abandon our plans to complete the outpost if we deemed this area too dangerous to operate in." She turned her head and scoffed. "It should've been obvious from the start that that would never work. What kind of a military would let their soldiers disappear without doing everything in its power to discover the reason?"

The doctor finally turned around to look at her. Her expression was impassive. "The original plan was to have your camp beset by behemoths. It's thanks to Noel that the soldiers were merely taken instead."

Lightning's mouth snapped shut, soundly silenced by the woman's frank correction.

"You sound like you're not so hot on the traditional method yourself," Snow spoke up from where he'd been listening a few feet behind Lightning. His arms were crossed over his chest and his head was cocked to the side as he considered the doctor's words.

The woman nodded. "I'm against taking lives so precipitately. I find the old practices barbaric and unnecessary. Her Grace is of a similar mind. Unfortunately, it has always been her way to abstain from involving herself overly much in the decisions of the tribe."

"So, she's an impartial leader, huh?" Snow spoke again. "Sounds rough."

The woman gave him a ghost of a smile and then turned back to Hope. She raised her right hand and held it over his throat. "Curasa," she spoke calmly and a familiar green glow washed over the locale. Immediately, the angry redness surrounding the cuts faded and the severe line of Hope's mouth relaxed. Lightning felt her own muscles relax in response. "Better?" the doctor asked him as she pulled a roll of bandages from a nearby cabinet.

Hope turned his face just enough to look at her. "Yes." His voice was quiet and croaky but he did look much better than he had just a minute ago. "Thank you."

The doctor nodded. "I'm going to dress the cuts now." She held the roll of bandages up so he could see it and began to unwind it. "Let me know if it feels too tight."

Hope made a noise of affirmation and the doctor surprised Lightning when she looked back at her and said, "Do me a favor and lift his head for me. Best not to make him strain himself too much."

Lightning nodded and walked around to the other side of the bed. Hope's eyes found her as she slipped one hand under his head and the other under the space between his shoulder blades. As gently as she could, she lifted him a few inches off the mattress and the doctor promptly got to work wrapping his neck. Lightning was glad when the deed was finally done and she no longer had to see the goop-caked slices covering her friend's throat. When the doctor was finished, she laid him back down, careful to make sure he was comfortably situated on the pillow. He smiled up at her gratefully. "I'm sorry, Light," he said, his voice still soft and shaky, and Lightning was reminded of his apology the night before. "I don't know which god I pissed off, but someone up there clearly has it in for me."

His statement was meant to be joking but Lightning couldn't stop a frown from pulling her lips down. "I thought I told you to leave gods out of this."

Hope let out a chuckle which caused him to wince. "Right. No more deities. And no more jokes either. Ouch." He lifted a hand to gingerly touch his throat and his hand was swatted away by the doctor.

"No touching," she chastised him, giving him a pointed look down her nose. She'd finished cleaning up her tools and now held a clipboard and pen. She jotted a few notes and then cleared her throat and said, "Alright, now that I've finished patching you up, let's get to the bureaucracy. Full name?"

Wanting to save Hope from having to speak any more than necessary, Lightning opened her mouth to answer for him, but he beat her to it. "Hope Estheim," he answered obediently.

"Estheim," she repeated as her pen scrawled out the letters. "A pleasure. My name is Cynthia Cline, but please just call me Cynthia. Age?"

"Fifteen." His voice was gaining strength.

Another note was jotted. "Anything I should know about your medical history? Major operations? Allergies?"

Hope turned his face just slightly again in an imitation of shaking his head. "Nothing exciting. I've always been pretty healthy."

Cynthia looked up from her clipboard and raised an eyebrow. "Aside from getting beaten nearly to death on a regular basis by Pulsian wildlife and the occasional fal'Cie, you mean? You have an odd definition of exciting, child."

Hope seemed taken aback by the doctor's words and Lightning was as well. So, she knew about their l'Cie adventures. Could it be that the Farseers had been keeping tabs on them even back then?

"And while we're on the topic, know that I'll be performing a full-body checkup on you after we're finished with this. Just by looking at you I can tell that you've got at least one bruised rib and a pulled ligament in your right shoulder, and I'll want to inspect that injury on your head." She reached out and gently tugged Lightning's amateur bandage up to take a brief peek at the scrape. Giving a little grunt, she replaced the bandage and lowered her clipboard and placed a hand on her hip. "Yes, I'll definitely be taking another look at that. What did you do? Lose a game of tug of war with a tree?"

Lightning's eyes narrowed. So, she didn't know about the attack in the ruins. That meant she hadn't been made privy to that particular operation. Noel had denied involvement as well. With the way Cynthia had spoken of factions in the military, Lightning thought she was beginning to get a fairly clear picture of just what was going on here.

Hope gave a vague answer about falling from a high place which Cynthia accepted without remark. She followed up with a few more questions pertaining to his parents and potential hereditary diseases before flipping the paper on her clipboard back to reveal a second sheet with a simple diagram of the human body. She circled the locales of the injuries she'd just finished describing and marked a check next to a line of text that Lightning couldn't make out from across the bed. When she was finished, she set the clipboard down on her tool trolley. Turning back to Hope, she said, "Alright. On to the checkup. We'll start with your ribs."

Hope lay obediently motionless as the doctor lightly touched her fingertips to various places around his midsection. She started on the left, gently applying pressure first to the area just below his pectoral and then moving south one rib at a time. "How's this feel?" she asked. "Any pain?"

Hope's expression betrayed no discomfort. "No."

Cynthia nodded and moved on to his right side. She followed the same pattern, starting at the top and then moving downward. This time, however, Hope winced and sucked in a breath when her fingers reached what Lightning guessed was the third or fourth rib. Cynthia removed her hand and hummed. "As I thought. We'll be needing to take a closer look at that." Her hands moved upward and found the zipper on his sweater. "I'm going to remove this. I apologize in advance if the air is a bit chilly. This room's always been drafty."

Hope merely nodded and Cynthia tugged the zipper down until the ends popped apart. Delicately, she pulled the right side back, exposing Hope's bare torso. It was actually the first time Lightning had seen Hope's top-half unclothed, as despite living together for the past half-year Hope tended to observe modesty while under the same roof as women—unlike a certain blond fist fighter she could name. Despite his slim build and bird-like eating habits, Hope wasn't scrawny. Trekking all over creation as a l'Cie was likely a large contributor to the healthy definition Lightning could see in the area of his pectorals and abdominals. These were only fleeting musings, though, when faced with the angry purple blotchiness that covered his right side. Her mouth tightened as her eyes roamed the area, taking in the extent of the discoloration. It was quite the injury he'd been hiding under his clothes.

Behind her, Snow let out a whistle and his eyes rose to meet Hope's. "Well, now. _That's_ something we'll be having a nice long chat about later."

Hope looked away guiltily. "I know…I should've told you."

The doctor seemed to agree. She inspected the area with thin lips and then huffed and placed a hand on her hip. "You really should have. Just what goes on in kids' minds these days? Was hiding this supposed to be some play at manliness?" She clucked in disapproval.

Hope looked sheepish as she went back to prodding the area, inspecting for fractures. Lightning looked pointedly into his eyes and it didn't take long for him to crack under the weight of her own disapproval. "I didn't want to be sent home," he explained in a small voice. "I was worried Rygdea would overreact and take me off the mission."

Lightning said nothing to that and crossed her arms over her chest. She couldn't very well argue with him since she'd been worried about the very same thing. In the end, she supposed she was glad that his silence had served its purpose but she was a little miffed that he hadn't told her, at least. He should know that he could trust her. She wasn't going to go running to Rygdea to have him sent away when he was the only one making this cold, uncomfortable mission tolerable.

Although, she amended, perhaps it wasn't so unreasonable for him to worry. She had to admit that were he anyone else, she would've had him pulled in a heartbeat. The investigation would only be weighed down by a wounded soldier, and in the first place a military investigation was no place for an adolescent. When she considered these points, she was actually a little surprised herself by her readiness to make an exception for him. There was no legitimate reason to keep him on the case except that she wanted him there.

How absurdly unprofessional of her, she thought with some amazement. And yet, she had no intention of changing her stance on this. Hope would stay.

"We'll discuss this later," she promised. She turned around briefly to share a nod with Snow. "Anyway, it's not like we can send you away now even if we wanted to."

Hope gave her a tiny smile and then returned his attention to the doctor. Cynthia seemed to be satisfied with her examination because she removed her hand from his abdomen and grabbed her clipboard to jot a quick note. "Luckily for you, I didn't feel any breakage. It seems you got away with mere bruising." She set the clipboard aside again and with the businesslike efficiency of a mother zipped his sweater back up and fixed his collar. "You're a healer yourself, I'd wager. Otherwise that scrape on your forehead would be looking less pretty than it does. Just give yourself a good cure twice daily and you'll be right as rain before the week is out. Until then, try to refrain from aggravating the injury."

Hope smiled gratefully and nodded again. "Yes, ma'am."

"Right. Then let's take a look at that arm…"

It was as the good doctor was lifting Hope's arm to test for pain that the door opened and their missing comrades walked in, shaking snow from their shoulders. Sazh was particularly laden with the stuff and he wore a disgruntled expression while Rygdea and Comelin looked amused. Behind them, Noel took up the rear and he carefully closed the door behind him in order not to let the heat out.

"Hey, old man," Snow greeted the pilot with a grin. "What happened to you?"

"Some children took him for an enemy soldier and dumped snow on him as we were passing under one of the bridges," Comelin explained. "They thought his hair was a helmet."

Rygdea let out a snigger and Sazh whipped around to glare at him. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. You fit right in here with that scraggly mane a' yours."

Noel ignored them and stepped around the three men to join Cynthia at Hope's bedside. "How is he?" he asked seriously.

"He'll be fine," she answered, not looking up from her examination. "I made certain that the cuts won't get infected. He has a few other injuries which I'm checking on now but it won't take long. You'll be free to take him once I've finished."

Immediately, Lightning's posture straightened and she rounded on Noel. "Take him?" she questioned sharply.

Noel quickly held up an appeasing hand and shook his head. "No, no. Not like that. She means to the place you'll be staying. Nothing diabolical."

Lightning released a breath and backed down.

"We've already been to see it," Sazh contributed from the space by the door. "A little arcadian, but cozy."

"So, what's our plan?" Snow asked. "We gonna go pay a visit to this oracle of theirs?"

It was Noel who answered, and he pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly as he did so. "That _is_ the reason you were brought here," he confirmed. "However, I'm afraid that now it won't be as simple as walking in to meet her."

One of Lightning's eyebrows twitched as a sudden wave of irritation washed over her. "What do you mean 'not as simple' as that? We're only here because she demanded to meet with us. Don't tell me now that we have to jump through hoops just to talk to her."

Again, Noel made an appeasing gesture, though he looked frustrated himself. "No, you absolutely shouldn't have to," he agreed. "But, and I should have anticipated this, Kurlic—he's the captain of what passes for an army around here—is raising a stink about letting Yeul meet with outsiders. He wants all communication to go through him and I don't think he's going to budge on that."

There was that name again. Kurlic. The man Noel was at odds with. Lightning hadn't even met the guy and already she had no patience for him. "Then we'll just have to change his mind ourselves," she said coolly. "We came here to meet with your leader and that's exactly what we intend to do. I don't care if the woman is a saint hand-picked by God himself. I'm not talking to her through a middleman."

To her surprise, Noel smiled at her declaration. "I thought you'd say that." He placed his hands on his hips and gave her a curt nod. "I also don't want him acting as a go-between. Kurlic's not above changing words to suit his own agenda. If we leave the facilitation of negotiations up to him, I can assure you that you'll lose any chance of rescuing your comrades."

Sazh let out an audible sigh, drawing the attention of the room to himself. "So, what you're saying is that we don't have any choice but to make good on Lightning's threat."

Noel nodded. "Kurlic's the kind of man who believes the best solution to any problem is to eliminate it, and unfortunately, he's not alone in that mindset. The people of this village are proud and they have no grasp of the magnitude of the retaliation they're inviting by picking off Cocoonian settlements. Our soldiers are strong, but our numbers are few compared with your military. If we don't change our approach—and fast—we'll be crushed. That's why it's imperative that you be allowed to meet with Yeul." He looked right at Lightning then, and said, "If you can demonstrate your strength to Kurlic—say, by roughing him up a bit in a fair competition—he'll see that Cocoon's not an enemy to be taken lightly and he'll have no choice but to let you in to see her."

Lightning said nothing for a long time as she considered what Noel was suggesting. Honestly, her first inclination was to ask him where he got off asking them to fight for the privilege of seeing a person he kidnapped them to meet in the first place, but now that it was confirmed that the missing soldiers were being held here, she had to think of their lives in all this. Their mission from the beginning was to find the missing survey team and now it looked like talking to this Yeul was the only avenue to getting them back. She glanced at Rygdea to gauge his thoughts on this and he met her eyes and nodded. Well, that was that.

"Alright," she answered, looking back at Noel. "If that's the only way, then so be it. But answer me this: You seem pretty confident that I'll win. One doesn't normally bet the safety of his people on a soldier whose combat ability he knows nothing about. Is this Kurlic that much of a toss-out?"

Noel smiled and shook his head. "On the contrary, he's a legendary fighter. You'd be hard pressed to find a more skilled warrior anywhere on Pulse. I'm not gonna lie, you're in for a rough fight."

Snow grinned and stepped forward to stand beside her. "This just keeps getting better and better." He placed a hand on his hip and tossed Lightning a glance out of the corner of his eye before looking back at Noel. "Well, you've got good instincts picking Light for the job. If anyone can show this captain of yours a thing or two, it's her. But are you really sure you want to bank on an outsider? Say she loses? Won't Kurlic just become that much more convinced of his guys' superiority?"

On the other side of Noel, Rygdea made a sound of agreement. "It's an awfully high stakes plan."

"Yeah, it is," Noel agreed. "But I believe Lightning can beat him." He looked Lightning straight in the eye as he said this and there was something distinctly and unsettlingly knowing in the way he said, "She won't be defeated by someone like him." His gaze lingered for a moment and when he finally looked away, Lightning was almost relieved. There had been something very uncanny about that look. "And besides, he's the one who demanded that Pressa join the retrieval mission. He knows perfectly well how she feels about outsiders. You can think of this as paying him your thanks for what she did to Hope."

At the mention of Hope's name, the majority of the room turned to look at the teenager who'd been listening quietly from his bed. It seemed Cynthia had finished seeing to his injuries because he now sported a fresh bandage on his forehead and he was sitting up with his back propped against the headboard. The clean whiteness of the bandage hiding the cuts on his throat contrasted starkly with the crusted blood on the collar of his sweater and Lightning knew everyone was thinking the same thing as her. If nothing else, Kurlic deserved to be paid back for his subordinate's treatment of their comrade.

Hope, it seemed, hadn't merely been listening idly because he asked, "The man who attacked us yesterday…would I be correct in assuming he was sent to keep an eye on us by Kurlic?"

Noel nodded. "I guarantee it. Kurlic's got men all over the massif. They keep watch and report back about what the "vipers" are up to. It's their job to make sure none of you stumble upon our secret."

Lightning's mouth tightened. So, that had been Kurlic as well. Two separate incidents that both could've resulted in the loss of her closest friend. "I see," she uttered tonelessly. "Then we've got one more thing to thank him for."

"Light," Hope spoke to her suddenly, jarring her from the violent fantasy that had just begun to play out in her mind. "Please don't act rashly. The captain may be just a man, but he sounds like a dangerous opponent. I don't want you rushing into any fights, alright?"

Lightning's mouth twitched in bemusement. Leaving Noel, she walked back to Hope's bedside and placed a hand on his shoulder. Looking into his eyes, she said, "You just focus on getting better. You can lecture me all you want after you've healed up."

She wasn't at all prepared when Hope's eyes narrowed and he lifted his left hand to clutch her shoulder. With surprising strength, he pulled her close and his forest colored irises were oddly bright as he uttered in a voice low enough not to be overhead, "Count on it."

Lightning's thoughts ground to an abrupt halt and she was rendered speechless for a moment. The tone he'd used just now…there had been power in those words. Power that flirted dangerously with superiority. Hope's eyes held hers fast for the full duration of that moment and Lightning couldn't have pulled away if she wanted to. It was only after he released her that she realized Noel was talking again.

"Kulric wishes to meet with you at noon tomorrow," he said. "That gives you the rest of the evening and tomorrow morning to prepare. If there's anything you need, I'll do what I can to get it for you."

Lightning turned back to him and shook her head. "Thanks, but I have everything I need."

Noel smiled. "Then let's get you guys set up in the guest house."

oO0Oo

* * *

I'm sorry this chapter was late. Editing was proving to be more of a challenge than I'd anticipated. There are parts of this chapter that turned out well and other parts that…didn't. In the end, I didn't fix up those parts as well as I probably should've, but I was tired of stressing over them so I let it go.

A super enormous thanks to those of you who reviewed the last chapter! Thank you for sticking with me. Honestly, I'm so glad you're here.

See you next time!


	9. Chapter 9

The "guest house" turned out to be a comparatively sizeable longhouse near the edge of the village. Judging by its design, it wasn't built with the intention of housing residents, but pallets had been moved into it and arranged in neat lines across the floor. Lightning was excited to learn that the village bathhouse was just two buildings down and free to use whenever she desired and she took immediate advantage of that the moment she was left to her own devices. There was even a functional, if ancient-looking, washing machine and dryer set so she was able to wash her clothes while she soaked.

When she returned, she discovered that Sazh, Snow, and Comelin had managed to procure a table and were enthusiastically playing cards with Sazh's deck. Sazh noticed her come in and waved. "Hey, Soldier. Wanna join us? We're playing Go Fish."

Lightning barely kept from grimacing. She quickly shook her head. "I'll pass, thanks."

At the other end of the room, Hope looked up from the pages of an old-looking book Lightning had never seen before and grinned knowingly. Across from him sat Rygdea, also poring over a book. Having nothing better to do, Lightning joined them. "What's all this?" she asked as she sat down adjacent to the pair.

"Old Paddrean historical texts," Hope answered. "Noel brought them over."

Lightning hummed and propped her elbow on her knee. "He sure is accommodating."

Hope shrugged and Rygdea looked up and said, "He's an odd one, no doubts there. But I've met a lot of bad guys 'n he ain't one."

On this point, Lightning had to agree. They'd gotten off to a rocky start what with the whole kidnapping thing, but even disregarding everything he'd done for them since then, there was just something about Noel that inspired trust. From the way he spoke, she could tell that he valued honesty. She'd sensed no deception in anything he'd told them thus far.

Putting the topic of Noel to the side, Lightning gestured at the books and asked, "So, have you learned anything about these Farseers?"

Hope nodded. Lightning was glad to see him moving his neck with less difficulty, though the sight of the bandages peeking out from the collar of his sweater still caused a surge of anger to rise in her. "Quite a lot, actually. They're a fascinating people. Apparently, their leader is a seeress who is reborn again and again in a never-ending cycle. Legend says she was the very first human; created in the goddess Etro's image. Her power of foresight is supposedly a gift from the goddess herself."

Lightning hummed again and placed her chin in her palm. Gods again. Well, it was indeed a fascinating story, if a tad outlandish. More to be contrary than out of any real curiosity, she asked, "If Yeul could see the future, then why didn't she predict the fall of Paddra?"

Hope surprised her by grinning. "That's the thing. She _did_ predict it. Ironically, it was her own prophecy that sparked the civil war." He looked back down at the text in his lap and pointed to a passage. " _The seeress realized that her very words had the power to change history and the future, and so, with her Guardian and a few select escorts, she left the city for the wilderness._ "

"This village is where their descendants ended up settling," Rygdea explained. "They've guarded this valley n' kept it secret for centuries."

Lightning merely arched a brow. The story sounded like a great pile of nonsense to her but seeing Hope and Rygdea's enthusiasm caused her to wonder if there couldn't be _some_ truth to the tale. The two of them certainly seemed to think there was. "And that's the Yeul we're supposed to meet tomorrow?"

"That's what it sounds like," Hope said. "You know, I can kind of see why Kurlic is so protective of her. If the legend is true, then she's a very precious piece of their culture, not to mention human history. The people here may have even come to think of her as the goddess herself."

"It'd sure be an honor to meet a person like that, eh?" Rygdea said, grinning.

"Definitely," Hope agreed. "And what's more, if she really is as knowledgeable as the legends say, she may even know of a way to release Vanille and Fang from Cocoon's pillar." He smiled brightly down at the book as if it held the answers to all their woes.

Lightning's eyes widened. A way to release Fang and Vanille. If such a thing existed, it did seem like the sort of thing an omniscient seeress would know. Despite her skepticism, Lightning felt a small bud of hope blossom in her chest. It was a long shot, she knew, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

"Well, whether or not this Yeul is really what these people think she is, we now know for a fact that there are natives still living on Pulse," Rygdea pointed out. "That in 'n of itself is a huge discovery. Think of how much help these people could be to us if we can convince 'em to cooperate with us. Gran Pulse has been their home for millennia. They'll have maps 'n medicines 'n knowledge of engineering too, no doubt."

Hope nodded. "These people know Pulse inside and out. They may even have information about other surviving settlements. The amount of knowledge to be gleaned here is tremendous."

Lightning said nothing as the two males continued to wax lyrical about what an invaluable resource the Farseers could end up being for the newly stranded Cocoonians. They looked like kids in a candy shop and she found herself smiling at their bright-eyed gushing. She was impressed but also a little taken aback by Hope's ability to be excited about working together with a group of people who had attacked him maliciously not once but twice. In her opinion, he was a little too quick to forgive those who would do him harm, but she supposed she should have expected as much after the debacle with Alyss—

Alys—

Her brows pinched together in confusion. For some reason, the name just wasn't coming to her. But there _had_ been a person before who had wished for his death. Hadn't there? She wracked her brain as best she could for the memory but she couldn't find such a person in all her recalling. Could she be misremembering? The harder she thought about it, the hazier the notion grew. Sifting through her memories, she couldn't find any point between when she first met Hope just shy of a year ago and now where any such person would fit. How strange.

She pushed the matter out of her mind and thought instead about the situation they'd gotten themselves into. In order to have any shot at compromising with these people, she'd need to beat the captain of their soldiers in combat tomorrow. Lightning wasn't afraid to fight him—far from it—but she knew that this was a battle she'd need to handle with care. She didn't doubt for a second that Kurlic would be a magic user and that would place the odds overwhelmingly in his favor. Lightning was a seasoned combatant, but to win against a l'Cie, she was going to have to get creative. She had to win, though. There was too much at stake for her to lose.

She must've been silent for too long because Hope leaned over his book to appeal to her in a concerned tone of voice. "Something on your mind, Light?"

Lightning cracked a ghost of a smile, touched as always by his concern. "Just thinking about tomorrow. I suppose I've got my work cut out for me."

He regarded her with a thoughtful look and brought a hand to his chin. "About that," he said. "I did a bit of thinking and I wonder if there isn't some way to trigger your magic—like mine. Maybe there's something I can do to help you reawaken your powers. It would certainly give you an edge in tomorrow's fight."

Lightning's eyebrows rose. A way to return her powers? If Hope had actually figured out a way to do that, she was all ears. "Something you can do?" she repeated.

Hope's eyes flashed at her question and a sudden shiver went down her spine. She had a very ill feeling suddenly about whatever he had planned. "I have a hypothesis, but it's going to be dangerous. Do you want to try?"

Lightning had a very strong urge right then to refuse. Something in Hope's expression told her that she wasn't going to like whatever this experiment of his was. It was going to be foolish and come with an unacceptably high risk. But she also knew that any plan of his had a fair chance of success. Could she really afford to say no to something that could give her a greatly needed edge in tomorrow's battle?

"Alright," she answered. "But this hypothesis of yours had better not involve pushing me off a building."

Hope smiled and shook his head. He closed his book and set it aside before rising to his feet. "Luckily for you, there's a deficit of tall buildings in this village so we're going to have to try something else." He held out a hand to her. "Come with me."

Lightning made an unimpressed face but grabbed his hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. Rygdea looked on with a skeptically arched brow. "A little danger is fine, but keep it moderate, yeah? All this'll be for nothin' if Lightning's too injured to fight tomorrow."

Hope gave the man a nod of reassurance. "Sure thing, Lieutenant-General."

Lightning tried to squash her feeling of foreboding as Hope led her back across the room to the door. As they passed the card table, Sazh gave them a questioning look. "Where're you two off to now? A little late for a walk, don't you think?"

"Hope shot the old pilot a grin. "Don't worry. We'll be back before curfew."

Lightning heard Sazh grumble about cheeky teenagers as the door shut behind them. Now back out in the cold, Hope's hand tightened around hers and he pulled her along with a firm, quiet strength that caught her off guard. She sensed determination in his stride and the way he kept his face trained forward, never once looking back at her. "Are you going to tell me where we're going?" she asked, in part to settle the butterflies that had taken flight in her stomach. There was something about the way he led her now, so self-assuredly, that caused her heart rate to accelerate and her skin to heat. His silhouette against the darkening sky was somehow taller and stronger than she remembered.

He finally looked back over his shoulder at her and pointed ahead to the very building Lightning had come from not twenty minutes ago. "There."

"The bathhouse?" she questioned, perplexed by his answer. "What on Pulse am I going to do there? Take another bath?"

They arrived at the door and Hope ushered her inside with a vague, "Something like that."

The bathhouse was steamy and warm, the bathwater itself being heated by a natural underground spring. It seemed evening wasn't a popular time for bathing in this village because Lightning had yet to see another soul here, but that suited her just fine. She preferred privacy when she bathed. Hope closed the door with a soft click and then turned to look at the bath. He nodded in approval. "This'll work just fine."

"Great. I'll grab the shampoo," she said tonelessly.

Hope snorted and looked back at her with amused green eyes. "Impatient as ever. Fine, I'll explain." He sat on the clay edge of the massive tub and pulled off his boots and socks before placing them neatly on the floor by his feet. Now de-footweared, he swung his legs over the rim and allowed his fully trousered legs to sink into the water. He stood and turned back around to face her. "We're going to force you to use magic by putting you in a situation where you'll have no other choice but to. Come on."

He held out a hand again and Lightning sighed in resignation and began pulling off her boots and tights. She placed them on the floor by Hope's and stepped into the hot bath. Hope took her hands in both of his and walked backwards deeper into the pool until the water reached their waists. The sensation of standing in a bath fully clothed wasn't Lightning's favorite but at least the water was warm. It beat wading into an icy river.

"You said this was going to be dangerous," she reminded him. "Just how dangerous are we talking?"

Hope smiled a small, secret smile and said, "I suppose we'll find out if you fail. But I don't think you're going to fail."

Lightning frowned skeptically. "You have an awful lot of faith in me. Remember, there's no proof that my l'Cie powers will return just because yours did. It would be a mistake to bank on me."

Hope's fingers curled to ensnare hers and he tugged her gently closer. He'd gained enough inches that his eyes were nearly level with hers and she was made well aware of that fact as those forest irises held her fast. Her throat went suddenly dry as his thumbs brushed over the backs of her fingers in a way that was distinctly not the touch of a fifteen-year-old. His eyes were bright, just like that afternoon, and they drew her in, compelling her. A thought from the darkest recess of her mind wondered how he would respond if she were to lean forward.

The moment that thought came to light, every iota of reason within her set off alarm bells that she should pull away immediately. As mature as Hope acted, he was still just a teenager and many years her junior. She may not be experienced in love, but hell if she didn't know that she shouldn't be entertaining such thoughts about a boy his age. However, the sound of these bells was muffled, as if they were far away. Rather than desiring to put distance between them, when faced with the look Hope was giving her now, she'd never felt so strongly that she wanted to ignore reason and do something very, very foolish.

It was very lucky for her then that Hope broke the spell himself by closing his eyes. When he opened them again, he was smiling. "Banking on you has never been a mistake," he declared in a soft voice, calling her mind back to the conversation they were still in the midst of. "Even if it's impossible, we live to make the impossible possible, right?" His piece said, he stepped backward and his hands slid away from hers to drop to his sides.

Lightning swallowed and did her best to shake off the haze of hormones that demanded she grab him and pull him back. The chemicals in her brain were at war with each other; some wanting nothing more than to answer his unspoken challenge from a moment prior and the rest causing her to feel disgusted with herself for having inappropriate thoughts about a teenager. She prayed to whatever higher power may be listening that her feelings now were just a one-off fluke brought about by circumstance and that she didn't really harbor romantic feelings for the boy she'd taken under her wing not even a year ago.

"Whatever it is you're going to do, just do it already," she spoke gruffly to mask the conflict within. "Just make sure whatever damage you plan to inflict is healable. My opponent doesn't need any more handicaps."

Hope nodded. "I don't intend to give him any. That's why it's not your safety we'll be risking."

Before Lightning could demand he tell her just what he meant by that, he'd already thrown out an arm and in a strong voice said, "Blizzara."

At once, the bathwater around Lightning's hips froze solid, locking her in place, and around Hope the water bubbled up and crystalized into long, tapered shafts that shot straight at him. Before they could pierce his flesh, however, he flung out his other arm and commanded, "Stop." Immediately, the magic was halted in its tracks, the deadly points of the ice shards frozen in limbo mere inches from his torso.

Hope's eyes found hers and he smiled apologetically. "Sorry. I'm not much of a saboteur so I won't be able to hold this for long. Probably a minute at most. You'll have to figure out how to make your magic work before the stop spell wears off."

Lightning spent only a couple seconds being shocked before her face screwed up in anger and she made a lunge for him. "Hope, you—" She was having trouble coming up with a word that adequately described how she felt about him in that moment. "You've got to be _kidding_ me!" Unfortunately, the ice around her hips did its job and she was unable to do more than reach for him in vain. She brought her fist down hard on the ice hoping to break herself free but it was far too thick to be cracked with her bare hands.

"You're not going to break it like that," Hope informed her mildly. "You need to use magic."

Lightning answered his oh-so-useful tidbit of advice by turning blazing eyes on him. "Dispel it _now_ ," she commanded. "Just what part of me did you think would be okay with you doing this? If I can't make my magic work, you'll be—"

"In a world of pain, yes," Hope finished for her. "But don't worry. The ice won't hit any vital organs. So long as you get me to the doctor quickly, my life won't be in danger."

Lightning's eyes widened. He was really serious about this. He was actually willing to skewer himself for the sake of her victory tomorrow. He was being a Maker-damned _fool_. This was never going to work. He was going to seriously hurt himself for _nothing_.

"Time's ticking, Light," he was gracious enough to remind her. "I can't hold it for long."

Lightning snarled and threw out a hand. "Shell!" she cried. It was a long shot, she knew, but doing nothing certainly wasn't getting her anywhere.

Just as she expected, there was no sudden burst of magic from her hand. No reaction from a brand. Not even a tingle. She clenched her teeth in frustration. This whole plan was insane. She couldn't do it.

"Try again." Hope's voice was calm. She wanted to strangle him.

"Shell!" she cried again. "Protect! Barfrost!"

No matter what spell she tried, the magic simply wasn't there. She really was just a normal human now. Whatever power had deigned to return Hope's magic to him clearly hadn't done the same for her.

Her sense of panic abruptly rose when the golden jamming magic locking Hope's blizzara spell in place began to flicker. It was already wearing off.

"Shell!" she actually yelled this time. It turned into a chant as the magic continued to flicker. "Shell! Shell! Shell! STOP!"

In her mind, she saw Hope's magic release and the sharp crystal shafts impale him. She saw his body crumple and his blood turn the bathwater crimson. He was wrong about the trajectory. He was going to die. He was going to die and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"Calm down, Light," his still calm voice cut through her vision. The magic was still flashing. It hadn't worn off yet. "Stop thinking so hard and let the magic come naturally. Tell me, what does lightning do?"

Lightning did her best to swallow her fear. "It flashes brightly…and then fades away."

Hope nodded. "That's right. It can't protect. It only destroys. So do what you do best and _destroy_."

All at once, Lightning understood. Not wasting another moment, she flung her hand forward and yelled, "Fire!"

This time, the magic came. She felt it flare up like a roman candle in her stomach and then the ice shafts were exploding into sizzling droplets. The force of the explosion was so great that she immediately feared Hope had become caught up in it, but when the flames subsided, he stood entirely unscathed right where he'd been when the magic ignited. Encasing his body was a tell-tale purple sheen that faded as she watched. He smiled and clapped his hands together. "Nice work, Light. I knew you could do it."

"You," she uttered breathlessly, her heart still thundering in her chest. "You shelled yourself."

He nodded. "Of course. I never had any desire to be shish-kabobbed."

Lightning wanted to slug him. He'd made her think he was in serious danger but it had all been an act. She took a deep breath to calm herself and raised a hand to cover her face. She dragged it down slowly, exhaling as she did so.

"I'm sorry," Hope's voice came from behind her hand, now sounding somewhat sheepish. "It was the best plan I could think of on short notice and I—"

"Hope," she said his name in her flattest, most dangerous voice. "Stop talking now or I swear I'll punch you."

That shut him up. The two stood in silence for a long moment as Lightning did her best to rein in her fury and Hope gave her the space she needed to do it. Now that the ice was gone, the chilled water was regaining its heat. It lapped against her stomach in ripples as Hope finally deemed her calm enough and closed the distance between them. She made no move to push him away when he laid his chin on her shoulder and wrapped his arms loosely around her waist.

The gesture went a long way toward settling her racing heart and after a few moments' stubbornness she gave in and returned the embrace. "I guess I should be thanking you," she said at last. "That insane plan of yours actually worked."

"Thank me by kicking Kurlic's ass tomorrow," he answered.

That, Lightning whole-heartedly intended to do. She'd had enough of this mission. All she wanted was to wrap things up quickly and go home to Serah.

She pulled away and began tugging Hope back toward the edge of the bath. "Come on. We need to dry our clothes before we go to bed and that's going to take ages. Let's not waste any more time."

Hope chuckled and allowed himself to be dragged along. "Right. You're the boss."

o0o

"Just where did the two of you go last night?" Snow asked as he dragged a hand through his tousled blond locks. "We all finally gave up waiting and went to bed. Don't tell me this sleepy little village is hiding a hopping night scene."

Hope rolled his eyes as he stifled a yawn. "Yeah, we went out _clubbing_. You caught us."

"Well, whatever you did, I hope it was worth the sleep you missed," Sazh spoke up, his tone heavy with disapproval. "Today's not exactly gunna be a stroll through the park. Or did you forget about Captain Xenophobe and how our whole mission rides on Lightning kicking his butt today."

At this, Hope grinned. "Oh, it was worth it."

Rygdea, who had been quietly lacing up his boots near the door, arched an eyebrow in surprise and looked back at the smug teenager. "Now, wait a dang minute. Don't tell me you actually…"

"Yep," Hope answered brightly. "Light's a full-fledged enemy of the state again."

Snow's eyes widened and he spun around to look Lightning. "Hold on. By enemy of the state, you don't mean she's a—"

Lightning held up a hand to silence him. "Quiet. We don't know who might be listening. We can't afford to give away our advantage."

Snow promptly clammed up, even going so far as to mime zip-sealing his lips.

"Well, I'll be…" Sazh said in wonder. "I don't know how you managed it, but I'm not complainin'."

"And that means we have the rest a' the morning to spend how we please," Rygdea pointed out. "I suggest we use the extra time to find out where our men are bein' held."

"Seconded," Comelin spoke up. He'd already donned his boots and jacket and was waiting by the door. "As long as they're not interested in locking us up, we might as well take advantage of our freedom."

The plan was quickly agreed upon and the group of six left their hut behind to explore the village.

o0o

The village of the Farseers was livelier during the day than Lightning expected. There were men carrying bags of grain and building supplies and women hanging bedding out to air and children running about with mischief in their eyes. All in all, the place seemed in every way normal. Most of these people didn't look like they could fight. They were ordinary folk going about ordinary lives. She imagined it had been generations since they'd last had a non-wildlife threat to contend with.

In the center of the village, at the very heart of the canyon, was a bustling square. Here, men and women exchanged goods and a few produce vendors had set up stalls. A couple of soldiers holding staves eyed them warily as they entered but they were allowed to pass unmolested. Still, Lightning kept her guard up. They were smack dab in the center of enemy territory and there were people here who didn't take kindly to outsiders.

It was just as they were making plans to split up and perform a search that a familiar face appeared from out of the crowd.

"Morning," Noel greeted with a brisk wave. "You lot are up and about nice and early, though I should've expected as much."

"Well, this saves us time," Lightning said as he joined them. "We were just about to go on a hunt for our captured comrades but now that you're here you can save us the trouble by taking us to them yourself."

Noel crossed his arms and raised a brow. "Never one to mince words, are you? But I already figured that was what you were up to." He turned and began back through the square and he gestured over his shoulder for them to follow. "Come on, then. It's a bit of a hike, so we'd better get moving."

Lightning nodded to her companions and they followed without comment. Once again, Noel was proving to be unexpectedly helpful. She wondered just how much he hated this Kurlic guy that he'd go so far out of his way to aid the man's enemies.

The path Noel took them on led to the far end of the village, past the leader's hut. As they passed the large building, Lightning examined it with a critical eye, searching for potential points of infiltration. How much easier would it be to simply break in through the back and meet with Yeul without all the fluff of challenging her captain? Unfortunately, there didn't appear to be any obvious points of entry aside from the front door. It figured that the village would want to keep their precious oracle safe, so she wasn't really surprised.

The path continued out of the village proper to where several modest patches of farmland lay. Lightning assumed this was where they grew most of their crops, though due to the winter season much of the land was currently barren. She imagined the village was sustained mainly through hunting during these months.

As they traversed the frosty fields, Hope walked at her side; her ever-loyal companion. His jacket was zipped up tight to hide the bandages around his neck and she noticed that he'd removed the one from around his head. The gash he'd received from his fall had closed up nicely due to the combination of Cynthia's and his own magic and she could barely make it out under his fringe. She was relieved to see that he was walking normally as well. All in all, he looked worlds better than he had the day before. She made a mental note to stop by the clinic before they left and thank Cynthia for doing such a good job on him.

Hope, who had been studying the farmland with a thoughtful expression up until that point, must have felt her eyes on him because he turned his gaze on her and his eyebrows rose. "Something on my face?" he teased.

Lightning lowered her chin and turned her eyes back to the road. "I was just thinking that you look better today."

Hope hummed and stretched his arms out in front of him, allowing his upper back to arch briefly before dropping them back to his sides. "I do feel a lot better. Cure magic is a hell of a game-changer, huh?"

Lightning smiled slightly and shot him a look out of the corner of her eye. "Just keep in mind that being able to heal yourself again isn't an invitation to act recklessly."

Hope returned her smile and she didn't miss the mischievous twinkle in his eye. "I dunno, Light. Being infirmed has its plusses." His arm snaked out and wrapped around hers and she felt his weight settle against her side. "For instance, you wouldn't push away a hurt kid. I have unlimited access to all the cuddles I could ever want."

Lightning stiffened slightly at the contact as her thoughts promptly returned to the night before and the very dangerous line she'd toed. Even now, she could only think of how warm and solid Hope was against her and how nice it felt to have him near. She'd never desired contact with anyone like she did with him, and while before she'd chalked that up to him simply being particularly tolerable compared with most people, now she was beginning to suspect another, less-innocent reason for why that might be.

And _that_ was a scary notion. Grown women weren't supposed to be attracted to boys his age.

She tried her best to push that notion aside. Surely, that wasn't really the case and she was merely mistaking affection for attraction. Hope was a good kid and a stimulating conversation partner and he didn't exhaust her social meter so of course she was going to prefer his company over others'. There was nothing sinister or perverse about the way she felt about him. She just had a soft spot for him. That was all there was to it. That was all there would ever be to it.

Feeling a little better now that she'd sorted her feelings, she allowed herself to relax and fall into their usual easy banter. "Seriously, I don't know where I picked up my 'hug me' sign but it's false advertising and should be taken down."

Hope laughed and countered her claim, saying, "I think you actually enjoy hugs. You just lash out to cover your embarrassment."

Lightning favored him with a mock warning look. "Hope, you better drop it. You're treading on dangerous ground now."

The moment the words left her mouth, she was struck with the oddest feeling, like _déjà_ vu, that the two of them had had a very similar conversation in the past. A frown pulled at her lips as she thought back. They had, hadn't they? Hope had said those exact words to her after…

After what? The faint shadow of a memory slipped away from her like fine sand through her fingers.

She was forced to leave that train of thought at the platform because it appeared they'd reached their destination. Ahead of them was a looming cliff face which, judging by the numerous barred, window-like openings, housed a series of inner chambers. The only obvious entrance was guarded by two soldiers who saluted when Noel approached. He nodded to them before turning around to address the group.

"This is Lindzei's Hollow," he informed them, gesturing with an arm to the curious formation. "It's a natural prison that was once used to punish our criminals, but now we use it mainly as a storage space. Your Guardian Corps buddies are the first living things to be kept here in nearly two hundred years."

"Sorry to make you fall short of that biennial milestone," Snow remarked wryly.

Sazh crossed his arms over his chest and shifted his weight onto one side. "Looks cozy."

A corner of Noel's mouth quirked up. "It's actually not that bad as far as prisons go. It's sheltered from the elements and pretty spacious. And we set the prisoners up with small jobs to help them pass the time. Mending old clothes, re-beading tapestries, carving toys for the children… That last one's actually pretty popular and the kids really appreciate it. Of course, we're not forcing them to do any of these things. They're welcome to just sit and stew in boredom if that's what they prefer."

Snow placed a hand on his hip and nodded. "Sure sounds like it could be worse," he agreed. "But a prison's still a prison and I'm afraid we're going to have to take those soldiers back with us."

Noel nodded. "That's the plan. While we all appreciate the work they do, it's hard enough to hunt enough game to keep ourselves fed in the winter without adding a hundred extra mouths to the pot. Just another reason why it's better for everyone if we resolve this as quickly as possible."

"So, then," Comelin spoke up from the rear of the group. "Are we to be allowed to meet with the prisoners?"

Noel mirrored Snow's actions and placed a hand on his hip. "Unfortunately, for security reasons I can't let you go inside," he denied. "However, I can have someone brought out to meet with you. Give me a name and I'll make it happen."

Lightning traded a look with Rygdea who nodded and to Noel, said, "Lieutenant Rocher, then. She should have been in the most recent group you took."

Noel smiled. "Done." He turned to the guards at the prison's entrance and nodded. The one on the left saluted again and disappeared into the dark portal.

A few minutes passed and when the guard returned the head of the recon squad was at his heels. The short blonde looked bored and grumpy but none the worse for wear, much to Lightning's relief. When the lieutenant saw who was waiting for her, her eyes widened and her face perked up. "Well, now. I figured you lot would be next." Her eyes travelled over their group and Lightning could see that she was noting their lack of restraints. "But you don't appear to be prisoners. Here to bust us out?"

Snow was the one to answer. "I don't know if I'd call it busting, exactly, but yeah, we're gonna get you out of here."

Rocher grinned at him. "Thank God. It hasn't even been forty-eight hours and already I yearn for the comparatively spicy mediocrity of camp-sitting."

Knowing they didn't have limitless time for chitchat, Lightning decided to move the conversation along by asking, "Have you been able to meet with the survey team? Are they all accounted for?"

Rocher nodded. "All present and unharmed, though many of them have gone a little stir-crazy after weeks of being shut up in there. I definitely don't envy what they've been through."

Sazh and Rygdea shared a grin and Lightning knew what was going through their heads. They'd successfully found the missing team and nobody had been lost or hurt. All they needed to do now was convince the Farseers to let them go and then they could wrap up this mission and return to their lives. There was a good chance that they'd be able to sort everything out nicely and neatly and that was more than any of them had hoped for.

The only hard part would be getting through Kurlic, but as far as Lightning was concerned, that wasn't a hard part at all.

"Listen," Sazh spoke up. "We're about to go have a chat with these people's leader to get this whole mess figured out. You'll be outta here before you know it, so just sit tight, alright?"

Rocher gave the pilot a relieved smile. "Roger. I'll let the men know. Just don't make us wait too long, yeah?"

Snow gave her a casual salute and said, "Sure thing. Can't screw this up now that everyone's counting on us."

"Oh, and one more thing that I think you might be interested in knowing," Rocher said, seeming to just remember. She was looking at Sazh again. "They've got ships in there. All kinds. They're pretty old, but maybe you can convince your new buddies," she gestured around at Noel and the guards, "to let you take a look at them. R&D has been having some trouble with engines lately, right?"

Both Sazh and Hope perked up hugely at this. The two shared an excited look and Lightning knew without them even saying anything that they would not be leaving until they looked at those ships.

Noel crossed his arms and looked on curiously. "Engine trouble, huh?" he spoke up. "Well, if you want to have a look, that's fine with me." He raised a hand to point a finger back in the direction of the village, "Though it'll have to wait until after you've talked with Yeul."

Lightning looked around at each of her comrades in turn and crossed her arms. "Right," she transitioned. "Well, it sounds like we got what we came for. Let's go convince Kurlic to let us see Yeul."

There was a chorus of agreement from her companions and Snow grinned and knocked his fists together. "Ready when you are."

As Rocher was led back into the cavern and the group made their exit, Lightning felt a new fire ignite inside her. Soon, this whole exhausting ordeal would be over. Just a little longer and she'd be able to go home to Serah. But before that, she had some sweet payback to serve, and so help Kurlic, he was going to finish every bite.

oO0Oo

* * *

Yikes, that was long. Lucky for you I guess but editing it was a nightmare. I really hope this chapter turned out alright. I felt like some parts were a little rushed. (But I always whine about my editing. #sorry I'm like this)


	10. Chapter 10

Of all the absolute, invariable truths that existed in the universe, the one that Lightning ought to have been the most intimately familiar with was that which stated any time a situation appeared to be looking up, that was, in fact, a sign that the worst was yet to come. This had been the case on the eve of her twenty-first birthday when she'd been told by Lieutenant Amodar that she was due for a promotion and it had been the case when she'd found Serah in the Pulse vestige and it had also been the case at countless points throughout the ensuing journey she'd embarked on with a hapless crew of unlucky misfits. So, really, it was wholly her own oversight that she hadn't anticipated the line of furious soldiers waiting for them at the entrance to the village.

"Stop right there!" a soldier at the front of the company barked as they drew near. His stance was wide and commanding and he held a colorfully decorated partisan. "You will hand over all weapons in your possession and come quietly."

Noel, who had seen the soldiers well in advance and pushed to the head of the group, stepped forward and stared the man down, his height giving him the advantage in intimidation. "What's the meaning of this?" he asked calmly. He crossed his arms over his chest in a non-verbal statement of defiance. "These people are with me."

The soldier didn't back down. "You're under arrest as well, Kreiss," he informed Noel coolly. "Letting these Cocoon vipers wander the village unchecked—just what are you thinking? You've put us all in danger." He pointed his weapon's blade at Noel's chest threateningly.

Noel's eyes narrowed. He raised his left arm and pushed the weapon aside with the back of his hand. "These _Cocoon vipers_ were invited by Yeul herself," he informed the man just as coolly. "They are _guests_ and you have no authority to detain either them or myself."

"Well, now. That's a curious notion," a new voice came from just behind the line of soldiers and as Lightning watched the line broke momentarily to allow the owner of the voice to pass through. The man was nearly as tall as Noel and he was garbed in what was unmistakably an officer's uniform. From the way he held himself and his condescending tone of voice, Lightning could make an educated guess as to who he was. "Because I do believe I have _every_ authority to have you detained."

Noel's expression soured and his posture became noticeably more rigid. His reaction confirmed Lightning's guess as to the officer's identity. "I'm doing as Yeul asked. I haven't broken any laws."

Kurlic apparently disagreed. "You overreach your station. I allowed you to bring these people here under the condition that they were to be closely monitored at all times, and instead I hear you've not only allowed them to wander about the village freely, you've also personally escorted them to the Hollow to have a covert meeting with their allies. Tell me, exactly how have your actions served to keep our people safe?"

Noel held his ground. "These people have done nothing to harm anyone here. The one who decided they were a threat was _you_." He accompanied this statement with a bold step forward. "Believe me, I get that you're scared by the possibility of outsiders discovering this place, but these people aren't here to fight. They're here to negotiate peace. Like it or not, we're not alone down here anymore and that leaves us with two options. We can make nice with our new neighbors or we can keep picking them off and invite retaliation on a grand scale. Which do _you_ think is more conducive to keeping our people safe?"

Clearly Noel had hit a nerve because Kurlic's expression turned stormy. "You still doubt the might of our soldiers, I see." His serious gray eyes were hard as rocks and brimming with contempt as they stared Noel down. "I'll give you that the vipers outnumber us, but our men beyond outclass them in fighting strength. What do they know of hardship, protected and nourished for centuries in their floating crib? One of our warriors is worth ten—no, twenty of theirs. Let them retaliate. We've nothing to fear from an army of armed toddlers."

Noel's brow screwed up in frustration and he took another heated step forward. "You really don't get it. You're so full of yourself that you'll put everyone's lives at risk for the sake of your Maker-damned _pride—_ "

Lightning decided it was time to inject herself into this discussion before it could devolve any further and stopped Noel by placing a hand on his shoulder. Immediately, a dozen spears were levelled at her. She ignored them and stepped past the tall brunette. "Kurlic, right?" she addressed the man directly.

Kurlic's eyes narrowed and he regarded her with obvious disdain. She saw his eyes linger on her uniform. "That's _Captain_ Kurlic, girl. Or is Cocoon's military so undisciplined that you can go around addressing superior officers however you please?"

Lightning let the bait sink. "It sounds like you've made a lot of assumptions about us, but I wonder what facts you're basing them off. I find it curious that you profess to know so much about Cocoon's military might when as far as I can tell, you've never actually faced any of our soldiers in combat."

Kurlic's nostrils flared at her assertion. "You seem to have forgotten that we subdued and captured an entire battalion of your so-called soldiers. We plucked them right from their camp, easier than swatting a mosquito. They didn't even know they'd been taken until they woke up in our prison."

Lightning didn't bat an eye at the captain's story. She merely gave him an unimpressed look. "A battalion?" she repeated dubiously. "What you captured was a team of low-ranking, largely non-combative surveyors sent to record and catalogue Pulsian plants and wildlife. Why in the world would our military send a battalion of troops up into the mountains with no enemy to fight?"

A muscle in Kurlic's cheek twitched. Though he was trying hard not to show it, Lightning could tell that she'd taken some of the wind out of his sails with her correction. It was obvious he hadn't realized that the men he'd captured hadn't been a proper military contingent. Strike one on him. He was unknowingly playing right into her hands.

She crossed her arms over her chest and looked pointedly into his eyes. "I think you'll find the caliber of the rest of our military somewhat higher."

Kurlic's lips thinned into a severe line and he appeared to size her up. Lightning kept her face perfectly impassive so as not to reveal her hand. If she played her cards right, she could goad him into challenging her himself. That would give her leverage in setting the terms of her victory.

The captain's eyes left her to sweep over her companions and he looked decidedly unimpressed by what he saw. "You think your ragtag group could put up more of a fight? A woman, a child, two men who aren't even dressed as soldiers…" His sense of superiority seemed to have recovered and he demonstrated it by scoffing. "Don't waste my time." He signaled his men and the line moved to surround them, the soldiers' spears still at the ready. He gestured to Noel with his chin. "Take Kreiss to my office and have him restrained. I'll deal with him later. The rest of them are to be escorted back to the Hollow and imprisoned with their comrades."

Lightning inwardly cursed. There went _that_ plan. Despite his arrogant attitude, Kurlic wasn't as easily riled as she'd hoped he'd be. One look at his smug face as his men moved in on Noel solidified a suspicion Lightning had had the moment she first saw the line of soldiers waiting for them—that Kurlic never actually had any intention of letting them have any kind of correspondence with Yeul. She'd be willing to bet her favorite pair of tights that what he'd been looking for from the start was a way to get Noel out of the picture, and thanks to them, he'd found it.

Well, Lightning wasn't going to be put down so easily. Swift as her namesake, she drew her gunblade from its holster and lopped off the end of the spear pointed at her chest. Before any of Kurlic's men could react, she'd already whirled around and done the same to four more. The heavy steel tips clattered to the ground and several of the men retreated in surprise. Behind her, her companions wasted no time taking advantage of their confusion and leaping into action. Snow launched startled soldiers left and right with his powerful fists while Rygdea, Sazh, and Comelin used the threat of their firearms to send the less brave soldiers scuttling to the peripheries in fear. Lightning narrowed her eyes smugly and pointed her blade at the ornery captain. "We _are_ going to see Yeul," she informed him evenly. "You can either step down and allow us to pass or we can go through you. Choose wisely."

Kurlic's face screwed up in outrage. "Drawing a blade on me will be the last mistake you ever make, girl. I'll see you put down!"

Lightning didn't falter. She merely shrugged and said, "Some people need to learn lessons the hard way."

It wasn't quite how they'd planned this meeting going, but in the end, Lightning was getting her fight. She didn't wait for Kurlic to draw his weapon. Fast as her namesake, she closed the distance between them and aimed a slice at his chest. Her strike was swift and her aim true, but the captain was quick for his age and, like a shot, he drew a short, thin blade from a sheath at his side and expertly intercepted it. It was just as Noel had said, he was no rookie fighter.

Kurlic grunted in annoyance and pushed her back, breaking the connection of their blades. With a deft flick of his wrist, he flipped the thin blade in his grip and Lightning prepared for a lunge but she was in for a surprise when instead of attacking with his weapon, his unoccupied hand shot into the sky and he called, "Thunder!"

She barely reacted in time, throwing herself into a sloppy roll to escape the crackling bolt of electric magic. Her heart thumped against her ribs at the close call. That had been an unexpected move to pull right off the bat. Kurlic didn't play around, it seemed. She scrambled to her feet just in time to dodge a follow-up blast of ice magic, then fire. Kurlic was pressing his advantage, not giving her an inch, and it was all Lightning could do to avoid the elemental bombardment. It was evident by his short casting time that he'd been using magic for a very long time.

Lightning cursed as she threw herself out of the way of another thunderbolt. Just how many spells had he queued? She needed to figure out a way to get back on the offensive and fast because at the rate she was going she was on a fast track to ending up a smear on the dirt.

It was as she was sorting through her options that the telltale warmth of enhancing magic encased her body and she felt suddenly as if her legs had become ten times lighter. She identified the magic right away as a haste spell and she spared a split second to shoot a grateful look in Hope's direction. The teenager's eyes were fixed on Kurlic and she could see that he was trying very hard not to draw attention to himself. Smart boy.

That one haste spell was all it took to swing the odds in Lightning's favor. With the advantage of increased speed, she was able to easily avoid Kurlic's magical barrage. She saw his eyes widen in confusion as she changed her trajectory to charge him again. She struck from below this time and their blades sung as they crashed together. Kurlic's expression was full of anger and he snarled in her face. "What sorcery is this? A Cocoon soldier able to use the goddess' gift? Impossible!"

Lightning broke their stalemate by arching backward and kicking a leg up to connect with the man's head. The force of the blow caused him to stumble and Lightning took the opportunity to retake the offensive. "What did I tell you?" she said as she swung again and again, pushing him back. "You don't know us as well as you thought you did."

Shifting seamlessly into ravager, she paid him back for his onslaught before with a thunder spell of her own and watched with satisfaction as it connected with a sizzling crash. Kurlic grunted in pain and his hand tightened on his weapon to keep from dropping it. Lightning used the opening to switch back into commando and connect a powerful strike with his side. Kurlic was thrown back and a line of red appeared where the edge of her blade managed to slice through his armor.

Lightning fell back and swished her gunblade through the air tauntingly. "Consider that a small sliver of payback for your watchdog in the ruins blasting me and my partner off the top of a skyscraper. Your approach to foreign policy is novel."

Kurlic gingerly touched the fingertips of his left hand to his wound and frowned when they came back red. He looked back at her and his hand curled into a fist. "You're more skilled than I gave you credit for," he admitted begrudgingly. "But I won't let you catch me off guard again."

Lightning braced herself as the familiar golden glow of buffing magic enveloped her opponent. She didn't have to wonder long which spell he'd cast on himself because he was on her before the light even faded. Their weapons collided again and the force nearly toppled her.

Lightning shifted her weight to the side and their blades made a metallic _shiiing_ as Kurlic's momentum carried him past her. Thinking quickly, she shot a hand out to cast fire while his back was turned but he pivoted expertly and grabbed her wrist before she could complete the casting. Her arm was nearly yanked out of its socket when he spun around and used his superior strength to launch her over his shoulder, sending her flying. The only thing that saved her from a painful impact with the rough ground was that Kurlic's throw happened to send her straight into Snow, who managed to fend off his would-be captors long enough to catch her and steady her back on her feet. Lightning grunted a quick thanks to him and rubbed her shoulder. The joint was sore but still useable.

"Well, well. A man has finally swept our Lightning off her feet," Snow joked as he dodged a jab from one of the braver soldiers. "You should ask him for his number."

Lightning tossed a practiced scowl over her shoulder at him. "That's the worst joke you've ever made."

Leaving her brother-in-law-to-be to his battle, she smoothly shifted her blade into gun form and charged her opponent again, firing all the while. Kurlic was obviously no stranger to guns because he cast protect on himself and met her charge head on. The bullets were slowed by the spell, giving him ample time to dodge them, and once again Lightning found herself locked in a stalemate as his blade connected with the barrel of her gun.

Lightning gritted her teeth as she strained against the much larger man. This fight was going nowhere. Now that she no longer had the element of surprise with her magic, piercing his defenses was proving to be much harder. Kurlic was too skilled in synergy for her bullets and long-range spells to pose much of a threat to him and his physical strength made fighting him at close range inadvisable. She hated to admit it, but she was struggling.

Kurlic gave a great heave and Lightning found herself buckling under his weight. His blade was directly over her face now, barred only by her gun which she now braced with both hands. His stone colored eyes bored into hers and she felt like a new recruit again, barely holding her own against her combat instructor. Had her skills really languished this much after only six months? A man like Kurlic should be a spring breeze after taking down Orphan, so why was this fight giving her so much trouble?

"Lightning!" Noel's voice cut through the fighting. It was oddly clear amidst the ruckus that surrounded them. "Get ahold of yourself! You're not a person who would lose to someone like him!"

Lightning clenched her jaw and pushed back with all her strength. Noel was right. What was she doing faltering? This bastard was nothing compared to Caius. She should be able to take him in her sleep.

Kurlic's eyes widened as he was forced back. His blade quivered against hers and Lightning realized that she'd been buffed again. Her lips curled into a smile and she gave a final push which succeeded in knocking the captain back.

Now able to go on the offensive again, Lightning coiled her leg muscles and leapt into the air. Her jump took her high into the sky and she relished the feeling of the wind on her face like the touch of an old friend. Her body was light and responsive. It knew just what to do; exactly how to move.

Kurlic watched in shock as she shifted her gun back into blade form and readied a strike from above. Gravity did its job and she utilized the momentum of her fall to land a powerful blow which her opponent managed to block but she was satisfied to see his knees bend from the impact.

Not losing a moment, she flipped backward to put distance between them and promptly cast her most powerful thundaga. The spell hit before Kurlic could recover and the entire area became a chaotic mess of crackling lightning magic as thunderbolts struck indiscriminately at friend and foe alike. Lightning didn't have to worry about her comrades, though, as just as she'd anticipated Hope had read her intent and cast a split-second shellra on their allies. All around her, enemy soldiers cried out in pain as their bodies were wracked by electricity and she was pleased to see that even Kurlic hadn't escaped unscathed this time.

She didn't end her assault there. Her blood was singing in her veins, the thrill of battle taking over. This was what she'd been missing. She wasn't some Guardian Corps grunt. She was better. She was faster. Kurlic may be strong, but he was just a man. She was more. She was the goddess' champion—the savior handpicked by God himself. No one would stand in the way of her mission. She rushed the captain again and this time she charged her blade with fire magic to deliver a scorching flamestrike. Kurlic saw her advance and managed to roll out of the way but she wasn't finished. She flung out her left hand and barked, "Aeroga!"

The wind magic heeded her summons and wrapped her foe in a powerful twister. Kurlic was launched into the air by the force of the magically conjured tornado and Lightning took advantage of his immobility to unleash a flurry of strikes with her blade. The captain's armor was torn to ribbons under the barrage and when the spell finally released him he fell to the ground in an unmoving heap.

Lightning regarded his prone form coolly down the slope of her nose and elegantly lowered her blade to his neck. "That's checkmate."

Behind her, Snow let out a whoop and called out, "Alright! Way to go, Lightning!"

With the threat of Kurlic's soldiers neutralized by her thunder attack and no new reinforcements appearing, Lightning's companions were free to join her by the downed captain. Kurlic groaned and turned his head to look up at them through windswept hair and it was evident from his expression that he knew he was defeated. Rather than rubbing his loss in his face like she might've at one time, Lightning simply said, "I expect you're satisfied now?"

Kurlic turned his face away and she watched his jaw clench in frustration. She could see him grasping at the fragments of his pride. Finally, he opened his mouth and croaked, "Very well. Have your audience. I can no longer stop you."

Lightning nodded and pulled her blade away. She holstered it with a soft _fwish_ and began walking toward the village's gate. Her companions hurried to follow and behind her she heard Sazh address the downed soldiers. "You heard it from him, folks. No more funny business."

As she passed through the gate, Noel appeared at her side and she felt the weight of his hand settle on her shoulder. "Hey, good work back there," he praised as they walked in the direction of the leader's hut. "I knew you'd pull through for us."

Lightning spared him a glance out of the corner of her eye. "Don't get the wrong idea," she warned. "I just want to retrieve our soldiers so I can go home. I really couldn't care less about the politics of your village."

Noel's lips quirked into a smile. "Fair enough," he allowed. "But that doesn't change the fact that you'll be helping us out a ton by meeting with Yeul." They walked in silence for a few moments and Lightning began to think that was going to be the extent of their conversation but then Noel opened his mouth again and said, "This is probably going to sound like it's coming out of nowhere, but…I'm glad that our fates crossed. Meeting you has been," he paused briefly, seeming to consider his choice of words, "informative."

"Hey, hey. Is that supposed to be a pick-up line?"

Lightning had to stop herself from rolling her eyes as Snow and Hope joined them. The large man had his hands stuffed in his coat pockets and he wore a good-natured grin. Hope walked at his side looking thoughtful. His eyes found her but she got the sense he wasn't really seeing her. His expression was far away.

Noel let out an amused chuckle and crossed his arms. "I respect Lightning, but I feel like our personalities would clash." He made a show of considering Snow's implication and then lifted an eyebrow and said, "Maybe if she had a sister…"

Snow laughed and placed a hand on his hip. "No can do, buddy. I'm afraid the sister's spoken for."

Noel smiled a small, odd smile and raised his arms up behind his head. "That so? Well, lucky for me I already have a woman in my life. And believe me when I say I wouldn't trade her for anything."

They lapsed into silence after that and Lightning thought it would remain that way for the rest of the short walk to Yeul's hut, but the silence was broken by, of all people, Hope, who appeared to have returned to the here and now. "Say, Noel…" He looked up at the tall brunette with serious eyes. "Can I ask you something?"

Noel looked a little surprised at being addressed so suddenly by the normally quiet teenager but he nodded. "Shoot."

"The seeress, Yeul, she asked to meet with us specifically, right?" At Noel's affirmative nod he continued. "Then, does that mean she's seen our future?"

Noel gave him a little half-smirk and cocked his head. "Curious to know what lies ahead, huh? I guess that's natural for a kid your age." He rolled his shoulder casually and then crossed his arms. "Maybe she has, maybe she hasn't. What are you interested in learning about? Career? Success? Love?"

Hope dropped his eyes to the ground and shook his head. "Actually, I was hoping maybe she'd seen a vision that could tell us a little about what lies in store for the evacuees from Cocoon. I mean, moving to Gran Pulse…it wasn't easy. It's still not easy. It's probably a strange thing for me to ask about, but I guess I'm just hoping for some kind of proof that Cocoon's fall was really the right path for humanity."

Lightning watched her young silently. It didn't surprise her that Hope would still be thinking about the ordeal with Orphan. Faced with the daily struggle of surviving in an alien land, it was hard not to sometimes wonder if they'd in fact made the right choice. Lightning believed that they had, and she was certain Hope did as well, but doubt was a tricky beast to kill. She didn't blame him for looking for a little extra assurance.

As the leader's hut came into view, it occurred to her that they could always just ask Yeul directly. Lightning hoped the famed seeress would be personable and not some batty old lady who threw bones around to divine grand-sounding prophecies. That would undoubtedly crown this whole farce the biggest waste of time since the afternoon three months ago when Snow had sat her down and tried to convince her that adamantoises could be instated as a reliable method of long distance transportation.

Noel hummed thoughtfully. "The right path. Huh." He looked up at the sky where the very top of the crystalized Cocoon was just visible over the mountains and to Lightning he looked almost wistful. "That's a tough call to make, even for Yeul." He looked back at Hope and shrugged. "Who can really say what's ultimately right or wrong? Not me, that's for sure. But one thing I can tell you is that every action has consequences. A single choice can trigger a chain of events that not even Yeul's able to foresee. Trying to understand exactly how the path of history will unfold is like trying to touch a thought. You'll never do it."

Hope frowned and Lightning saw his gaze turn inward. "I see. I suppose I should've guessed it wouldn't be that simple."

Noel smirked and pointed at him. "And _that_ is the head of the nail. But just hearing me say that isn't very satisfying, so I'll tell you what I do know. Humans aren't so weak as to let a little adversity beat them down. Your settlements will become towns, and the towns cities. Your engineers will build extraordinary machines that will make everyone's lives easier. You'll have cutting edge infrastructure and education, all spearheaded by a kind and popular leader, and eventually a day will come when nobody will miss being taken care of by the fal'Cie."

Snow let out a whistle. "Your seeress saw all that, huh?"

Noel shook his head. "No." He looked back at Cocoon again and the wistful look returned to his eyes. "I saw it. With my own two eyes."

Lightning could only look at him perplexed. Of all the fantastic claims she'd heard in her life, that one well and truly took the behemoth steak.

Apparently Snow agreed, because he said, "You saw it? Don't tell me you've got time-travelers here as well as seeresses."

Noel chuckled and shook his head again. "No. My experience was something of a special case and definitely a tale for another time." He stopped and pointed at the stairs leading up to the leader's hut. They'd arrived at last. "Now, it's time for you to meet Yeul."

Lightning chose not to comment, opting instead to follow Noel's finger and begin ascending the stairs before another disapproving captain could pop out of the ground to bar their way. Now that they'd finally earned their audience, she was determined to get it over with.

As far as she was concerned, with this, her mission was accomplished. She'd say whatever she needed to in order to get the survey and recon teams released and then she'd leave further negotiations in the far more capable hands of the General and Rygdea. She was done.

oO0Oo

* * *

Lame ending is lame but it's insanely late and I'm about to pass out. I cannot do words anymore. Goodbye, friends, I am gone.


	11. Chapter 11

At the top of the stairs, Lightning was greeted by two guards; one on either side of the hut's only door. She almost thought they would deny her entrance just as a final laugh from the cosmos, but they nodded and allowed her and her companions to pass without issue. The guard on the right pulled the decorative curtain aside courteously and Lightning stepped through the doorway to find herself in what looked to be a waiting room. There were colorful cushions in lines on either side of the room and in the middle was a plush rug that stopped just before another door which Lightning assumed led to the seeress' private chambers.

Just as she was contemplating whether or not she was meant to proceed to the next room herself, the guard from before brushed passed her and stopped before the door. He gave the wood a crisp rap and then grabbed the handle and pulled it open.

Lightning awarded the guard the courtesy of a nod and proceeded into the next room, her companions on her heels. She'd been afraid for a moment that they'd be asked to wait some ungodly amount of time for the seeress to collect her foreteller mojo or whatever, but it seemed the waiting room was in fact just a normal waiting room.

The person waiting on the other side of the door was not at all what Lightning expected. Rather than a wrinkled old shaman, the face that greeted her was that of a teenager who looked to be about Hope's age. She had long, immaculately combed silver hair and she wore an elegant golden headdress that resembled a wreath. Her face was young but her expression was composed and her gaze steady. She nodded to each of them in turn as they were ushered by the guard to their seats; two rows of cushions beginning on either side of the room that angled inward to form a V. Lightning took a seat on the leftmost cushion and her companions followed suit until all the cushions had an occupant. Hope took the seat beside hers and she noted with come curiosity that his eyes were fixed on Yeul's face. He looked like he was thinking hard about something. When they were all seated, Noel stepped around them and took his own seat at Yeul's side.

Lightning heard the door click shut behind them and Yeul's expression became a hint more relaxed. "Welcome," the seeress bade in a soft voice. She touched her fingertips to the floor and bowed low, exposing the back of her neck. She held the position for a few seconds before righting herself. "You overcame undue adversity to meet with me today and for that you have my sincerest gratitude." She lifted a hand to her chest. "I am Yeul. It is for my sake that this village was established and it for my safety that the people here treat outsiders with wariness and suspicion. I apologize for the actions of my followers."

Lightning wasn't surprised when Snow chose to speak up, taking it upon himself to be the first to get the ball rolling in airing their grievances. "Your apology is appreciated," he said sincerely. "But I gotta ask. If you don't want your followers kidnapping people, then why don't you tell them to stop? Surely they'd listen to you."

Yeul didn't look offended. She merely shook her head and said, "Yes, they would. And that is precisely why I may not. As the seeress, I can guide them, but I cannot do anything that could be construed as meddling. The fate of the people who live here is in their own hands and any decisions I make as leader must be reached without the perceived benefit of foresight."

Lightning raised a brow. "So, what you're saying is, you don't want anyone to think you're using your power to steer their fates? But if you can't use your visions to help people, then what's the point of having a seeress?"

The moment the words left her mouth, Lightning wanted to smack herself. So much for tact.

Well, diplomacy never had been her strong suit.

Yeul turned her face to look at her with that same, steady gaze. Her expression didn't change. "You misunderstand. The reason I may not meddle is because my prophecies cannot be changed. My visions will come to pass regardless of any action taken to prevent them."

At the group's collective look of confusion, Noel took it upon himself to explain. "It's like this," he said. "Imagine if Yeul were to predict something really bad. For instance, she saw the village being wiped out by a virus. No matter what she did, the village would succumb to the virus because that's its fate. But the people won't want to just accept a fate like that, right? That's why if Yeul were to do something to try to prevent it…"

"It would give the people false hope," Hope finished for him. Lightning looked over and saw that his eyes were still fixed on Yeul. There was a shimmer of clarity in his gaze that told her his mind had just finished working out some problem. His hands were clenched tightly over his thighs.

"Bingo," Noel said, pointing at him. "And that applies to every decision she makes. That's why she _has_ to remain impartial. The people have to believe that any fate that befalls them, good or bad, is brought about by their own hands, otherwise they'll give up all agency and Yeul will be crushed under the burden of their expectations."

Sazh was the next to speak. "I see. That's pretty rough."

Yeul smiled slightly. It was the first glimmer of personality she'd shown since they entered and Lightning was glad for it. It was unsettling talking to a person who acted like a robot.

"It is what it is," she spoke in that same soft voice. "But there is another matter which you have come to discuss with me. That of the soldiers who were stolen from their camp by our warriors. You wish to free them. I wish for their release as well. And, in return, I hope that you'll grant my request."

Sazh spoke again. "Aha. So, that's the plan. You're going to use our men as a bartering piece."

Yeul shook her head. "No. You may refuse if you wish and your soldiers will still be free to go. I merely ask that you consider what I have to say."

Snow scratched the back of his head and looked briefly at Rygdea before saying, "Well, if you put it like that, I guess there's no reason not to hear you out."

Yeul smiled again gratefully. "Thank you. The truth is, you six are the only Cocoon dwellers who know the way to this village. Your comrades were all put to sleep for the transfer. I ask that you keep this information to yourselves and also that you talk to your commander and ask him to consider pulling his forces from the massif." She looked at Rygdea as she said this as if she somehow knew that he was the highest-ranking officer among them. "One day, I hope my people will be open to the idea of collaborating with your settlements, but I'm afraid that day is not today."

Rygdea seemed to ponder this for a moment. He was probably considering how to propose such a thing to the general. Lightning didn't doubt that Caragan would be open to Yeul's request but keeping the situation hush-hush was going to be a challenge no matter how they went about it. After a minute, he said, "I'll talk seriously about it with my commanding officer. It'll be difficult explainin' to the men why we're abandonin' a project we've pumped so much money and resources into, but as far as I'm concerned it's a small price to pay for the safety of both our peoples. Not t'mention, I think everyone'll just feel relieved to have the missing team back."

Noel issued a not so subtle sigh of relief and grinned. "Great. That's all we wanted to hear." He made a show of smacking his right fist into his lift palm and twisting it back and forth. "Man, I wish I could rub in Kurlic's smug face how painless that was. I keep telling him all these tired, old traditions are just dragging us down."

Sazh chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest. "It's easy for the young to think progressively, but us old folks have a bad habit of falling back on what's familiar. It's not always a simple thing for us to change our minds."

Lightning saw Snow grin and she could tell that he was about to chime in with a jab at Sazh's age but he didn't get the chance because Hope chose that moment to speak up. "But in Noel's case, it's less a clash of generations and more a clash of eras, am I right?" His eyes were narrowed and calculating as they watched Noel's face. "Since you weren't actually born in this time period."

As one, the room's eyes turned to him. Rygdea's eyebrows shot up and Sazh and Snow looked at him, baffled. "Wait, hold the phone," Snow said, raising a hand palm-outward. "What?"

Lightning frowned at Hope who still had his eyes fixed on Noel, awaiting the tall brunette's response to his statement.

Noel crossed his arms and looked back at Hope with an expression that said he was impressed. "You figured it out, did you? I should've guessed you would."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Snow spoke again, leaning out over the floor in Hope's direction. He looked back and forth between him and Noel as if he were adding one and one and getting three. For once, Lightning identified. "Somebody explain."

Noel shared a look with Yeul and the seeress nodded. He then turned back to them and said, "It's true. I wasn't born in this time. Actually, the time I'm from doesn't exist anymore." He looked around at each of them and Lightning raised a brow when his gaze landed on her. "It's a long story that isn't really relevant to today's conversation so I'll spare you the details. Suffice to say that I'm here now under somewhat special circumstances to serve as Yeul's guardian."

Snow frowned and his gaze travelled back to Hope. He crossed his arms. "And just how exactly how did you put that together?"

Hope glanced at him. "You must've noticed it too, right? How Noel kept talking like he knew us." He looked back at Noel and his green eyes were sure. "He was willing to bank on Lightning without ever seeing her fight and he told us himself that he saw the future with his own eyes. His disdain for tradition and his familiarity with Cocoon's AMP technology tell the rest."

Noel smirked. "As astute as ever." He crossed his legs and rested his elbows atop his knees. "Has anyone ever told you that being a know-it-all isn't considered a desirable trait in kids?"

Hope didn't bat an eyelid. "You learn to take the bad with the good."

Noel's eyebrows shot up and he looked like he wanted to clap back to Hope's superbly delivered retort but Snow wasn't finished. He looked back at Noel and said, "So, you really do know us? Does that mean you were born into a Cocoonian settlement?"

Noel shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't tell you more than I have already. There's a chance you'll remember everything for yourselves somewhere down the line, but I'm not allowed to aid in that. It's one of the terms of my being here."

Lightning decided to speak then. She was already confused enough without Noel giving her even more to question. "How can we remember something that hasn't happened yet?"

This time, it was Yeul who answered. "You can remember because the future Noel speaks of is one you have lived already. In this timeline, the future has become the past. The present you live in now is a paradox."

Sazh lifted his hands helplessly. "A paradox? You lost me."

Yeul looked around at each of them. "It is a final farewell to a world that could not be saved. A chance to experience the life that Etro once gifted you. You can think of it as a reward long overdue."

If Yeul was hoping her explanation would clear things up, she was very much mistaken. Looking at the faces of her companions, Lightning could see that she wasn't alone in thinking this. The only person who looked as if he somewhat followed what Noel and Yeul were saying was Hope.

Noel seemed to realize this because he said, "You don't have to understand. In fact, you were never meant to even know this much."

Sazh grunted and scratched at his afro. "Well, that's a relief. I don't think I could understand even if you explained it a hundred times. Are you saying that we all travelled back in time?"

Yeul nodded. When she spoke again, her tone was almost lofty, as if she were reciting holy rites. "As the souls of humanity are ferried to a new world, the dead goddess gathers the scattered remnants of her powers to keep a millennium old promise. It is Her last gift to Them, her most precious children, and a final chance for Two whose regrets could not be eased."

Lightning saw Snow lift a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Them…refers to us, I assume?"

Yeul inclined her head, confirming his assumption. "It was Etro who released you from your crystal slumber. She wished to reward you for freeing humanity from the fal'Cies' plot."

Snow crossed his arms and seemed to consider this. "And the two with regrets are…Fang and Vanille?"

"No."

Everyone turned to look at Hope. His hands were once again clenched above his thighs and he was looking at Yeul. " _The goddess' gift will expire. But not for many years. Go and make sure to take care of any regrets,_ " he recited and Lightning remembered the words from the evening after his fall. They'd been the words spoken to him by the girl in his dream. "That's what you said to me two days ago."

Yeul regarded Hope with her steady green gaze, just a few shades off from his own. She was silent for a moment in which everyone waited with bated breath, then she said, "The one who spoke to you was not me. That was another Yeul. One who watches from the Chaos." She looked again at Noel and a wordless message was passed between them. Then she looked back at Hope and said, "However, her words are fact. You are one of the Two. The leader of humanity plucked from his people by a shining god. And the other…" She paused to lift her hand and Lightning couldn't have been more surprised when the pale, slender digit pointed at her. "Is you."

Lightning furrowed her eyebrows and shared a look with Hope before looking back at Yeul. "Me?"

Yeul nodded. "God's Savior; the soldier tasked with easing the regrets of the living so that their souls could be led to the new world. That was your role and you performed it admirably. Even now, the fruits of your hard labor can be seen in the smiles of the strangers you pass on the streets." She closed her eyes and raised her left hand to the area over her heart. "However, in looking after the needs of the people around you, you neglected to look after your own. You still have a regret that binds you to this world and you must take this chance to resolve it lest it follow you into the next."

Lightning regarded the young seeress without reaction. Truth be told, she hadn't the slightest idea how she was supposed to respond to being told something like that. She would love nothing more than to chalk Yeul's story up as the ravings of a loopy religious nut who believed drinking gremlin blood gave her psychic powers, but something deep inside her resonated with the word _savior_. There was a shadow of a memory attached to that word; a jumble of half-formed emotions that echoed the strong feeling she'd had during her fight with Kurlic. And then there was Noel's confirmation of Hope's outrageous claim about him being from another time. Even if Noel and Yeul had concocted such a story beforehand, there was no way they could've convinced Hope to be a part of it.

And she had to admit that it did explain a few things. Such as why she felt so disconnected from the fight with Orphan and why it seemed like all of them had changed so much in such a short amount of time. Particularly Hope. If what Yeul said about them going back in time was true, then it would explain why he talked and acted like an adult. It was certainly a convenient explanation.

But was that really possible? Time travel? If so, then why couldn't they remember anything? And just what was this regret she supposedly had? How was she meant to resolve it when she had no idea what it was?

"I apologize," Yeul spoke again before any of these questions could be voiced. "We have said too much already. It was never my intention to reveal any of this to you." She looked back at Hope then. "However, if you have already put this much of the truth together, then perhaps it was an exercise in futility to think having you pick up your old lives afresh would be as simple as wiping your memories and sending your souls back in time. I believed some memories would return, but I never anticipated that it would happen so quickly."

"Wait just a minute," Sazh said, drawing the room's attention to him. "If this is supposed to be some sort of reward like you say, then what about Fang and Vanille? Why do they have to stay as crystal while we walk free as chocobos?"

This time, Noel was the one to answer, and Lightning couldn't have been less prepared for what he had to say. "They're not."

Sazh's face screwed up in confusion. "Excuse me?"

Noel's smirk returned. "Your friends are free. They woke up back in Oerba at the same time you did. The reason you haven't met them yet is because they left on a quest to find out if any other Pulsian civilizations managed to survive. I imagine they're halfway around the world by now."

Sazh's shoulders dropped in astonishment and Lightning mirrored the sentiment. So, Fang and Vanille were awake. They weren't trapped in the pillar. Would the shocking news ever stop?

Snow, who had been sitting cross-legged up until that point, unfolded his legs and brought his knees in toward his chest to lay his forearms atop them. "Alright. Say I believe everything you've just told me," he started. "So, basically, we're just supposed to live out our lives as normal until…what? The world ends and our souls are taken to this 'new world'?"

Noel nodded. "Until Etro's gift expires, yes. Could be years, could be decades. Could even be centuries. To be honest, nobody really knows."

Lightning shot a look at Hope and quirked a brow. "Then I guess we'd better find out what these regrets of ours are quickly, huh? We might only have a few years."

Hope's lips curved into a small half-smile. "Better a few years than centuries. Any idea what yours is?"

Lightning shook her head. "Not a clue. You?"

Hope hesitated a moment before answering. His eyes stayed on hers and the green was as bright as ever when he finally said, "I might have an idea."

Lightning once again found herself having to avert her gaze under the weight of that unfathomable challenge. She really wished he would stop looking at her like that. The more he wore that expression, the clearer it became to her that such a look didn't belong on a boy his age.

Luckily, Snow drew the room's, and also Hope's, attention away from her by saying, "That's possibly the most ominous thing you've ever said. Don't tell me you actually remember something."

Hope shook his head. "No. I've just got a feeling."

"Well," Noel spoke again. "Even if you don't know for sure, all you have to do is live in the way that makes you the most happy, right?" He looked around the room and nodded. "That goes for all of you. If there's something you've always wanted to do, do it. If you've got a dream, seize it. There aren't any higher powers left to meddle in your fates anymore, so you're free to live in any way you want."

Lightning took a moment to consider this. Any way she wants, huh. It's not like she needed some celebrated mystic to tell her that. Her fate was her own. That was how she'd always lived and she didn't plan to change now. But Noel's words did give her some food for thought. It was only now that she was realizing that ever since the Fall she'd begun taking somewhat of a passive role in her own life. That was where all her present concerns stemmed from, wasn't it? Somewhere along the way, she'd become content to watch the lives of others—her sister, Sazh, Snow, Dajh, Hope—unfold around her while she simply scraped by continuing to do what she knew. She wasn't unhappy, certainly, but she wasn't really happy either. Perhaps it was time she did a little soul searching to finally hammer down what it was she really wanted from her life.

"In any case," Noel continued. "The first step is getting those soldiers of yours home safe and sound. Now that we can safely tell the village that peace has been negotiated and we're not in danger of being discovered, there's no more reason to keep them. I'll mobilize our magic users to get them sent back to their outpost, so all you've gotta do is have that talk with your commander."

"Ah, speaking of magic," Snow cut in, setting his fist in his palm. "I've been meaning to ask: These magic users of yours…are they l'Cie? Kurlic said something about 'the goddess' gift'."

His question caused Noel to take pause. "Right. I forgot that that would be strange for you. No, there are no l'Cie here. The magic used by our tribe is a power that developed naturally over the past few centuries. Originally, there was only one person capable of using magic in this village and that was Yeul's former guardian—a man named Caius. He was a l'Cie. But Gran Pulse is a land overflowing with magic and over time that magic began to manifest in humans as well. I imagine that even your people will begin to see magic users cropping up within the next few years."

Lightning let out a breath of relief. So, it wasn't just them. It was going to be much easier to make the people accept her and Hope's powers if more people started to be able to use magic as well. They would just have to keep it on the down-low until then.

"Well, then. Just one more thing," Rygdea spoke up. He looked at Yeul and nodded. "I know y'said that the people here ain't ready to collaborate with us just yet, but I was wonderin' if maybe it'd be okay to keep a road of communication open. Just on a small scale. I feel like there's a lot we could learn from each other."

Yeul seemed to consider this. After a moment, she said, "I cannot allow your soldiers to come to this village. But perhaps there is a way that I can grant your request. The six of you know of this village and the people here know your faces. We may be able to allow small, occasional meetings…perhaps within the Paddra ruins. It would serve to ease the people into the idea of working together with your settlements."

Rygdea's face brightened. "Cooperation's gotta start somewhere. If that's okay with you, then I'm happy to accommodate you."

Yeul nodded. She looked at Noel then and another wordless message seemed to pass between them. Noel smiled and looked back at Rygdea. "In that case, I'll be happy to act as a go-between to help you arrange meetings. I'm familiar with your society and I'm confident that I can come and go without raising suspicion. Think of me as an ambassador of sorts."

Rygdea nodded. "I'm countin' on you, then."

With that final matter wrapped up, the meeting was finally able to come to a close. Lightning was glad for it because she wasn't certain how many more startling revelations she'd have been able to handle. Just the fact that she was apparently reliving a life she'd lived once before was a hard enough pill to swallow without adding gods and regrets and all of humanity supposedly moving to a new world into the mix. She had plenty to come to terms with already.

A future she couldn't remember. The savior.

 _The savior_.

Her eyes found Hope. He was already standing, making to leave with the others. Yeul had called him the leader of humanity. Plucked from his people by a shining god. The same god, by the sounds of things, who was responsible for tasking her with her role. If everything they'd heard was true, just how far back in time had they traveled? Just what kind of future had they come from?

A world that could not be saved.

Lightning shook her head and stood. She needed time to wrap her head around this—time put her thoughts together; to decide how much of it she believed. She would figure out where to go from there.

oO0Oo

* * *

The truth comes out. Two chapters left.


	12. Chapter 12

I apologize profusely for the lateness of this chapter. I wasn't satisfied with the original version so I ended up completely rewriting it. I promise this version is miles better.

* * *

They ended up staying one more night in the village of the Farseers while Noel had his soldiers transport the survey and recon teams—and, much to Sazh and Hope's delight, a functioning Pulse airship—back to the outpost. The commander of the survey team, a man named Guillory who had been overseeing all operations in the massif since the outpost's genesis, had been given strict orders by Rygdea to cease all activities and remain on standby until a final decision was reached by Central. In the meantime, Lightning and Rocher's squads had been given the green light to withdraw, their missions finished. In the morning, Noel would accompany Lightning and her team back to the outpost to retrieve their belongings and then all together they would make the return trip to New Eden.

It seemed that Lightning's victory over Kurlic had earned their group a badge of respect from the villagers because several times that evening Lightning was stopped on her way back from the market so that someone could praise her mastery of the 'goddess' gift'. Lightning hadn't had any idea that so many people had been watching, but the end she was just glad that her display had won her fans and not an increase in hostility.

There was, however, a downside to fame, as she soon learned.

"Well, well. Look at Miss Popular," Snow joked after yet another villager stopped her to present her with a colorfully wrapped bushel of carrots.

Lightning grunted at him from behind a veritable mountain of produce. Her arms ached from the menagerie of gifts heaped upon her by what, by this point, must have been at least half the village. "You know, Snow, instead of running your mouth you could help me carry some of this."

She heard Snow laugh somewhere beyond the pile. "No can do, Sis. Victor's gotta bear the burden of veggies alone."

Lightning fought the urge to find his ankles with the toe of her boot. She was pretty sure Noel was kidding when he'd said that she'd have to carry all of the villagers' gifts herself or run the risk of looking impolite but she couldn't be sure and she was reluctant to risk it. Apparently it was tradition in this tribe to award feats of great strength or skill with vegetables, and when Hope and Sazh had offered to help carry the gifts, Noel had grinningly informed them that to hand any of the them off would be taken as a sign of weakness unbefitting the champion who earned them.

"It's better than getting snow dumped all over you," Sazh submitted from somewhere to her left. His unfortunate misunderstanding with the village children was evidently still a sore spot for him.

Lightning's tired arms begged to differ with him on that point, but she kept the thought to herself. "Let's just pick up the pace before somebody tries to give me whole cabbages," she groused, quickening her stride.

To her great relief, they managed to make it back to their place of temporary residence without any more delays and she was able to finally unload her burden on the table where Snow, Sazh, and Comelin had played Go Fish the night before. With a parting order for someone to make themselves useful and turn the gifts into soup or something, she left the pile of produce behind to go hit up the baths. She was sore and tired and with only one pair of undergarments she intended to make full use of the laundry facilities.

By the time she returned, she was pleased to find that someone had in fact made themselves useful and a pot of veggie soup was bubbling away on a portable burner. A quick glance told her that Comelin was responsible and she made sure to shoot him a grateful nod as she padded over to her pallet. She was glad for the bed's placement at the far side of the room because she was in desperate need of some quiet time alone to sort out her thoughts.

She plopped down on top of the covers and proceeded to pluck her gunblade from its holster along with a polishing cloth. She always thought best when her hands were busy. As she ran the cloth up and down along the blade, she considered what Yeul had told her today.

The 'savior'. That's what the seeress had called her. The one tasked with easing the regrets of the living so that their souls could be led to a new world. It was such an absurd and fantastic story that Lightning would have to be out of her mind to believe it, and yet, she was finding it difficult to muster her usual skepticism. The resonance she felt with that word was so powerful that if she closed her eyes, she could almost see it.

A dying world. Dark clouds of chaos engulfing the last remaining bastions of humanity. A mission given to her by God himself.

She breathed deeply and tried as hard as she could to cast her mind into that place. She needed to remember. It was going to eat away at her until she did. There was nothing she hated more than feeling like she was being kept from something that was, by all rights, hers.

Her memories. Her life. Her fate.

Her fingers tightened around her polishing cloth. As much as she wished she could drag these supposed memories back by the sheer force of her will, the image remained hazy and out of reach. There was definitely a piece of her that was lost and it looked like getting it back was going to be no simple matter.

She didn't know how long she'd been sitting there—possibly ten minutes—but in the end her concentration was broken when a familiar weight settled against her. She had to stop herself from smiling as she looked across her shoulder at the perpetrator. She should have anticipated Hope's eventual arrival.

"Back to glom, are we?" she greeted him. "You know, people are going to start thinking we're conjoined twins."

Hope snorted. "That would be an interesting phenomenon to try to explain."

This time, Lightning failed to withhold her smile. Hope's ability to take her teasing and roll with it instead of becoming flustered never ceased to both impress and amuse her.

"So, what's on your mind?" he asked. "Trying to figure out what your regret is?"

Lightning hummed and looked off to where Snow was earnestly trying to ruin Comelin's soup by backseat cheffing. "Actually, I was hoping that if I picked my brain hard enough I might remember something. Giving Yeul and Noel the benefit of the doubt that their story wasn't just a load of chocobo dung, that is."

It was Hope's turn to hum. She saw his eyes follow hers thoughtfully. "It's a difficult story to believe, I'll give you that," he said after a time. "But closing one's mind to a possibility just because it seems far-fetched is the antithesis to progress. Sometimes all you can do is take someone else's word and do your best while believing in them."

Lightning raised a brow. "You read that in a book or am I expected to believe it's the voice of experience?"

Hope seemed to think about that for a moment, then he shrugged. "I just have this feeling there was a time when I had to rely a whole lot on faith."

"A feeling, huh? Well, that's better than anything I've got."

Hope's lips thinned into a line and he shook his head. "It's frustrating," he admitted. "Knowing there are pieces of me that have been taken away; memories and experiences that shaped me as a person that are inexplicably missing. I feel like a stranger in my skin and there's an explanation but I can't reach it. It's made all the worse because I don't think this is the first time. I think there was something that tried to take pieces of me away in the past, too." He raised a hand to his neck and Lightning saw his fingers make a grasping motion as if searching for his old scarf. He seemed to realize the futility of the motion and dropped his arm. "Sorry," he apologized. "I'm being weird again."

Lightning shook her head. "Don't be. We're all feeling a little weird at the moment, I reckon."

Hope glanced up at her and his lips formed a tiny smile. "You're right about that."

It was true. Looking around at their companions, Lightning could see the ghost of introspection on every face in the room. They might not be talking about it, but everyone was thinking about what they'd been told today. She wondered if any of the others were having any better luck retrieving their lost memories.

"You know," Hope spoke again, "I occasionally have…I guess you could call them flashes…of faces and events that I believe are tied to the future. They're just snippets, but they're fairly clear and consistent and I've been able to use them to put together something of picture. Although I can't say how reliable it is."

"Lightning's eyebrows rose and she regarded Hope curiously. "You did say you had an idea about your regret. Was it something you were able to scrap together from those snippets?" What he described sounded similar to the fragments of memories she was able to evoke when she thought of the word 'savior', but it sounded like his recollection was further along than hers. Had he been experiencing these flashes even before they'd talked with Yeul? If he had, it would help to explain why he'd accept her and Noel's story so readily.

Hope nodded. "That, and a few educated guesses based on what I know of my own personality. Actually, finding out I have "uneased regrets" has gone a long way toward explaining some strange feelings I've been having lately. To be honest, I'm a little relieved."

Lightning frowned. That was an awfully odd thing to say upon learning one had unresolved issues. His admission only served to heighten her curiosity. "Care to share?" she prompted. "Maybe it's something that's too personal to talk about, but if you want to, I'm all ears."

Hope looked up at her with a small amount of surprise. She could tell by his expression that he hadn't expected her to make the offer. This reaction confused her a little because it seemed only natural for her to be curious.

He didn't answer right away. He looked down at his lap and his expression turned thoughtful. Lightning wondered if he was thinking of how to tell her in such a way as to minimize any embarrassment. After a moment. he peeked up at her from under his fringe. The angle brought out the mint in his eyes. "I don't mind talking about it, but just promise not to tease me, would you? There's actually two things and both are going to sound weird coming from a kid."

Lightning didn't bother fighting her smile. Despite his earnest request, she couldn't help making a tiny jab. "I assure you, Hope, everything you say sounds weird coming from a kid."

Hope gave her a reproachful look but brushed off her comment without remark. He straightened so that he was no longer leaning on her and pulled his knees to his chest. "Right, then number one. Like I said before, I don't have any concrete memories or anything, but there's one thing for sure that I've been able to put together about my past and that's that there were things that I hoped to achieve that I wasn't able to and I carried a lot of guilt because of that."

Lightning crossed her arms. She'd be interested to know how he could be so certain of that, but for now she'd simply take his words at face value. "That sounds reasonable," she submitted. "Yeul called you the leader of humanity. I don't know if that was hyperbole but at the very least it sounds like you grew up to be someone pretty important. People in positions of power often end up not accomplishing everything they set out to do."

Hope looked back at her and inclined his head. His arms tightened around his knees. "Yes, you're right," he agreed. "But it's a little more complicated than that. I think I failed myself in a big way."

Lightning raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

"It's the guilt," he answered. "It's still there. Ever since we woke up, I've been desperate to feel like I'm succeeding. At anything, really."

Lightning regarded her partner with surprise. This was the first he'd mentioned of this. Ever since their fight with Orphan, Hope had hardly seemed insecure to her. He performed highly in whatever he set out to do. Unsuccessful was the last adjective she'd use to describe him.

Hope continued without her prompting. "I have this irrational, driving need to find ways to make life better for the people of Cocoon," he explained. "It's almost like a hang-up. You could say that my pet project of trying to get our airships up and running again is a passion, but truthfully, it's an obsession." He laced his fingers together and rocked forward over his knees. His gaze was directed at the boys in the kitchen. "All those nights when you'd come home late and find me still up, that wasn't just because I was waiting up for you. I get into these obsessive moods where my mind won't let my body rest until it's solved whatever problem it's stuck on. It was worse back when I was still attending public school but since I switched to the Academy I've been able to work on more useful projects and that's helped a bit."

Lightning watched his hands break apart and the fingers of his right hand move to his left wrist to idly toy with the yellow cloth he always wore there. The fact that he still wore it even after all these months caused her to wonder if perhaps it held some significance she wasn't aware of. Maybe she would try asking—another time. "You never mentioned this before," she spoke when it looked like he wasn't going to. "Why didn't you ever say anything? You know we would've tried to help you if we'd known."

It took a while for Hope to answer. His hands stilled and he lowered his arms to clasp them loosely around his ankles. He shrugged. "It didn't seem important, I guess. I didn't really think much of it in the beginning. We'd done such amazing and life-changing things as l'Cie that I figured I'd just gotten used to feeling like I had some grand duty to fulfil. I assumed the feeling would pass as I settled back into life as a normal civilian."

Lightning stretched her legs out in front of her and crossed her ankles. "But it didn't."

"No," he agreed. "And actually, that's not all there is to it." He fell silent again and Lightning could sense that they were treading into territory that was difficult for him to talk about. Still, he pressed on. "I have these strange…intrusive thoughts sometimes," he confessed. "As you said, leaders fail to accomplish things all the time. It's disappointing but it's not necessarily the kind of thing that haunts you into your next life. That's why I think I failed in a worse way. The kinds of thoughts I have…" He trailed off and his eyes were wide as he stared off at the kitchen, focused on something only he could see. "I wonder if I really became a good person."

Lightning almost raised her eyebrows at that but she managed to school her expression. The thought of Hope being anything but a good person seemed about as likely to her as Snow becoming a mathematician. "What do you mean?"

"For example, I'll get frustrated when someone makes a mistake and think things like 'maybe mankind wasn't worth saving' or 'wouldn't it be nice if humans didn't have flaws?'" He shook his head and purposefully redirected his gaze to his feet. "I don't really feel that way, of course. Like I said, they're intrusive thoughts. But after what we learned today I can't help but wonder: what if that's the me of the future talking in my head? What if I really did feel that way once?"

Lightning leaned forward so that she was even with him. It seemed to her that Hope was thinking far too much about this. "First of all, even if you did think that way in the past, it doesn't automatically make you a bad person," she informed him evenly. "Having bad thoughts isn't a crime, so long as you don't act on them. And secondly, even if you did act on them—say you, as a leader, decided your people weren't worth helping and you abandoned them—the fact that you feel guilty now; the very fact that you have this regret; that says all I need to know about the quality of your character."

Hope exhaled and the serious line of his lips curved into a small smile. "Think so?"

Lightning echoed his smile and raised a hand to poke his forehead. "Hope, your head might not be screwed on quite right but the last thing I'm worried about is you going bad. Besides, even if you did make a big mistake in the past, as long as you're aware of it you can avoid making it again. And you know all of us are looking out for you. We're not going to sit idly by and let you do something stupid."

Hope's eyes met hers again and Lightning could read a small amount of relief in them. It was clear that this matter had been weighing on him. A part of her wondered, though: if he really had become so bent out of shape once, what had the her of the future had been doing? In what kind of world would she and Snow and Sazh and Rygdea and his dad let him twist into such a parody of the person he was now? Hope's greatest strength was his unwavering faith in humanity. He believed in the future and she knew he had the willpower to overcome any adversity fate threw at him. Any future that could cause him to forsake that faith would have to be a truly terrible one.

Well, whatever happened in that future, it wouldn't be the same this time around. Lightning would make personally sure of it.

"Anyway," she transitioned. "You said you had two regrets. What's the other one?"

Hope nodded slowly. "The other one is more personal and much less interesting," he stated simply. "Unfortunately, it's a much harder one to ease and honestly, I can't imagine how being sent back in time was in any way conducive to doing so."

Lightning cocked her head toward him and bumped her shoulder again his. "Something you can't do as a kid?" she asked. "Or is it something that's tied specifically to that future?"

Hope surprised her by breaking away from her touch to lean forward over his knees again. "It's something that was probably never on the table for me, regardless," he answered tonelessly. "But maybe I'd've had a better shot back then. Who knows?" He shrugged.

"Is it related to a person?" she questioned curiously. She couldn't think of many sources of regret that couldn't be easily solved by a do-over.

Hope nodded again. "Yes. There's something I should've said to someone, but I don't think I ever did, and as things stand now I don't think she'd be very receptive to hearing it from me."

Lightning's eyebrows shot up. _She_. Just by that one word she could make an educated guess as to what it was he regretted not saying.

Hope looked back at her and Lightning could tell by the look in his eye that her guess was right on the money. Without her permission, her heart gave a little squeeze. "I…I see."

So, Hope had someone he liked. And not just that, she was someone precious enough to him that not telling her of his feelings became a huge source of regret for him. The thought of there being a girl he felt so strongly for caused a feeling that was dangerously close to loneliness to rear its ugly head inside her. She hadn't known there was someone like that in Hope's life and she was surprised by her strong aversion to the idea.

She pushed these feelings aside and asked, "Why do you think she wouldn't be receptive?"

Hope's eyes found hers and the green of them held her fast. It was that look again. The one she was beginning to suspect belonged to the adult soul within him; a man the her of now didn't know. The look caused her to lick her lips self-consciously. He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I don't think she sees me that way."

Lightning let out a breath and tried not to be too relieved by his answer. If Hope liked someone then of course she wanted to be supportive of him, but this was too early. She wasn't ready yet. It was something she needed some time to come to terms with.

Forcing herself to lay a comforting hand on his arm, she said, "Well, don't give up hope just yet. She might come around with time."

The line of Hope's back relaxed and he nodded. His mouth formed a small smile and he said, "I guess anything's possible. But I won't hold my breath." He leaned back again to be level with her and rested his weight on his hands. "What about you, Light? I've talked a lot about myself but you're in the same boat. Have you really not been able to put together anything about what your regret is?"

Lightning started slightly at the sudden shift in topic but she shook her head. "Nothing," she answered. "My memories seem pretty determined to stay gone."

Hope looked up at the wooden ceiling and hummed. "Nothing, huh?" he repeated. "I wonder…could it be that your regret isn't tied to the future?" He lowered his chin and glanced at her side-long. "Maybe it's something you've been carrying with you all along?"

Lightning considered this. Something she's been carrying with her all along, huh? If that was the case, it didn't help her much. She couldn't think of anything outstanding off the top of her head.

Hope saw her struggling and said, "Why not try starting with what Noel said? He said all we had to do was live in the way that makes us happiest. If that's the case, then it's just a matter of finding out what makes you happy, right?"

Lightning had to curb the urge to answer right away with "you". _That_ would surely run a high risk of being taken the wrong way. It was, however, very much the truth. There weren't many everyday activities that Lightning could say with honesty that she really enjoyed, but the addition of Hope had a way of making otherwise mundane or boring tasks fun. When she wasn't with her sister, she found she naturally gravitated toward him.

But that didn't exactly give her any leads toward figuring out what her regret was. There must be something else…something that she wants on an intrinsic level. Something that the her of the future also failed to have. The problem was that without any memories of this supposed future she had no way of telling what that was.

All at once, an idea occurred to her that caused her to stop short. What if she already had it? It could be that she'd already gained whatever it was simply by virtue of resetting. If fighting Orphan was the point where their fates diverged the first time, then it was possible that she lived a very different series of events in that branch of the timeline…or however that worked. It could be that this time around she was already on the right track without even knowing it.

Lightning exhaled and shook her head. Look at her. She was really taking this nonsense about time-travel seriously. It was all Hope's fault for making it actually sound credible.

"If it helps, I might have an idea."

Lightning's attention returned to Hope. He was watching her levelly, his green eyes bright. She regarded him with skepticism. How on earth would he know what was lacking in her life when she herself didn't have the faintest idea? "You think you know what my regret is? This, I have to hear."

Hope smiled and shrugged a shoulder. "It's just a thought. I could be totally out of the park, here. I was just thinking back to what Yeul said. She said that in looking after the needs of the people around you, you neglected to look after your own. It occurred to me that you said something similar yourself in the past."

Lightning cocked her head. "Did I?"

He nodded. "It was one of the first conversations we had, remember? The time you told me about your name. You said that after your parents died you had to be strong for Serah. You said that by changing your name you thought you could change who you were."

Lightning considered this. She'd known Hope remembered that conversation but she hadn't thought he'd bother to memorize it word for word. As expected of Hope. He never let a single detail slip through the cracks.

Hope was still looking at her with those large, green eyes. "You've been thinking about what Lightning wants, but maybe this isn't about Lightning." He raised a hand and pointed to the general vicinity of her heart. "Maybe it's about what Claire wants."

Lightning blinked in surprise and followed the path of his finger to her chest. Hope had never used her birthname before. The name sounded very soft coming from his lips. Delicate; feminine; everything Lightning wasn't. But when spoken in Hope's voice and accompanied by his steady gaze that watched her without judgement or expectation, it somehow managed to sound like hers in a way it normally didn't.

"Think about it," he continued. "Up until now you've lived almost exclusively for Serah. When was the last time you made a decision about your life that didn't have her at the center of it? When was the last time you looked out for Claire's wants and needs?"

Hope's hand was still hovering in front of her chest and Lightning quirked a brow and lifted her own to grasp it. The part of her that prided herself on being a hardened soldier and independent woman bristled a little at the notion of a fifteen-year-old being able to read her so easily, but then, Hope was a cheeky little bastard who had an annoying habit of being right _._ That, and any protests she might have made at his attempt to psychoanalyze her swiftly fell away from her lips when his hand shifted in her grasp and he threaded their fingers together.

He continued to watch her steadily as he lowered their clasped hands to rest comfortably between them. "Maybe I'm talking out of my ass," he continued as if the two of them weren't sharing such an intimate gesture. "It's your regret so you're free to correct me. I just thought I'd offer my two cents."

Lightning was silent as her brain attempted to determine how best to respond to Hope; both his words and his bold action. He was toeing a boundary with both of them—whether he knew it or not. When he treated her like this—like an equal—it blurred the natural line of age and status that separated them and that, she was realizing, had a nasty habit of confusing her hormones. She knew it because just like the previous night when they'd gone to the bathhouse together, something inside her was pulling her toward him; gently whispering how nice it felt to hold his hand like this; how comfortable. It sparked an irrational feeling of ire to well up inside her at whatever girl had captured his heart.

To her great relief, Comelin chose that moment to declare that dinner was ready, which abruptly put an end to this dangerous line of thinking. She pulled her hand free of Hope's and stood, making a show of stretching her back and rolling her shoulders. Turning back to Hope, she said, "I suppose what you said has merit. I'll think about it."

Hope smiled up at her and nodded. "Always glad to help." He stood then as well and took a moment to smooth the wrinkles out of his sweater with his palms before following her to the table for their last meal in the village of the Farseers.

oO0Oo

* * *

One chapter left. Again, I'm really, really sorry this chapter took so long to come out. Because of all the time I spent reworking this, I'm afraid the last chapter is now behind schedule as well. Boo. But at least with this one out of the way I can focus on all my energy on that one. Just bear with me a little longer.

I'm also sorry about the last part of this chapter. I really don't like how it came out but I've spent so much time looking at this word document over the past week and a half that I've well and truly hit my desensitization point. Is it good? Is it bad? Is it even English? Idek. If you saw any glaring flaws in grammar/characterization/anything feel free to point them out and I'll go back and fix them. I can't trust myself to catch any of it right now. /dead

This was a pretty important chapter because it finally gave us a little glimpse into Hope's head. I know many of you have been wondering about him so I hope I was able to shed a bit of light here. I almost feel like I need to write an accompanying one-shot from his perspective because his head is a giant mess and we can only just scratch the surface with Lightning as our eyes. We'll see if I ever actually get around to it.

See you again next time for the grand finale! (It's not really that grand, but it is the end. I'll do my best to make it a good one.)


	13. Chapter 13

To everyone who has been waiting patiently for this final chapter, I am SO sorry it's taken me thing long. All I can say is that I hope you enjoy the ending. It's been nearly a year in coming.

* * *

"Lightning! Thank goodness!"

Lightning said nothing as she was swept up in a hug by her sister. Serah squeezed her tightly and Lightning allowed her mouth to form a small smile as she laid her palms on her sister's back. Her nose was filled with the smell of Serah's light perfume and all around her she could hear the chattering of soldiers and the bustling of Cocoon's citizens going about their daily lives. At last, she was home.

Serah released her and took a step back to look into her eyes. "I was so worried. When Caragan told me he'd lost communication with the camp I thought something terrible might've happened to you."

Somewhere behind them, Lightning heard a delighted squeal of "Daddy!" as Sazh lifted his son into his arms. Dajh began chattering excitedly but Lightning tuned the father-son duo out in favor of focusing on her sister.

"I'm sorry. Things didn't go quite according to plan."

Serah shook her head and smiled prettily. Her eyes shone like liquid gems, full of relief. It occurred to Lightning then that in all the time she'd worried for Serah's safety she'd rarely considered that her sister probably felt the same whenever she went off on a dangerous mission. She determined to do better to think about Serah's feelings in the future.

"I could tell," Serah said, looking past her to where Rygdea stood deep in conversation with Noel. Her eyebrows rose up her forehead. "I see you picked up a new friend."

Lightning folded her arms and followed Serah's gaze to the tall brunette. "Yeah. Something like that."

As if he could sense he was being talked about, Noel looked away from Rygdea and his blue eyes landed on them. He gestured for Rygdea to wait a moment and broke away to walk over to the pink-haired siblings.

Noel's stride was quick and sure and Lightning didn't miss the way his gaze seemed to fix on Serah as he approached. She saw recognition in his eyes, and more than that, an unmasked and curious fondness. Lightning could gather that to him, this wasn't his and Serah's first meeting. However, they had agreed ahead of time that it would be best to break the news of their shared future-past to Serah gently in a calm setting, so when he held out his hand to her his words betrayed no familiarity.

"You must be Serah," he said, warmly grasping the hand she offered and giving it a polite shake. "I'm Noel. Noel Kreiss."

Serah looked up into his eyes a little unsurely and Lightning swore she saw a glimmer of _something_ on her face upon learning his name. It didn't look like recognition exactly, but perhaps she was experiencing the same déjà vu that had been haunting Lightning since this whole ordeal began. Lightning looked back and forth between them, wondering what kind of relationship they'd had once upon a time. It rankled her that she couldn't remember.

"Noel." Serah seemed to taste the name on her tongue. Her pale blue eyes still watched his face beneath thick, dark lashes and there was wariness in them, but also curiosity. She'd made no move yet to pull her hand from his. "Did you help Lightning find our missing soldiers?"

Noel drew away and lifted an arm to scratch at the back of his head. "You could say that," he answered ambiguously. "Well, I guess it would be more accurate to say that I'm the reason your soldiers went missing in the first place." He smiled guiltily.

Lightning took it upon herself to explain. She chose her words carefully so as not to incriminate Noel or the Farseers. "It turns out the massif is more dangerous than we thought. Noel narrowly saved the outpost from a devastating behemoth attack."

Noel surreptitiously shot her a grateful look.

"A behemoth attack?" Serah brought a hand to her mouth in shock. "How terrible!"

Lightning crossed her arms. Her gaze stayed on Noel. "If it weren't for Noel taking our men to safety, we might've had a real tragedy on our hands."

Serah's eyebrows pushed together and the corners of her mouth turned downward into a worried frown. "If the massif is that dangerous, is it really okay to be operating an outpost there?"

Lightning's lips formed a smile. Perhaps convincing Caragn to suspend operations would be easier than she'd thought. The behemoth excuse was turning out to be a pretty good one. "That's precisely the concern we intend to bring before the general. We think it would be best to pull our men out for now."

Serah nodded. She still looked concerned but Lightning's words seemed to have mollified her somewhat. "What about you, Sis? Was the trip okay? You didn't encounter anything too dangerous, I hope."

Lightning squashed a grimace as memories of Hope's slashed throat crawled, unwelcome, to the front of her mind. She forced her mouth to smile so as not to alert her sister that something had in fact happened during their trip. "Nothing we couldn't handle."

As if Serah could read her mind, her large, blue eyes flicked past her to where the others were in various stages of reuniting with their family and friends. Lightning saw scrutiny in them as she examined each face for a sign that not everything was as it should be. Knowing that Serah was going to find out sooner or later whether she tried to hide it or not, Lightning decided to just go ahead and tell her. "There were…a couple rough spots," she admitted, drawing Serah's eyes back to her. "I'll give you details later, but for now you can rest assured that we all made it back in one piece and no lasting harm was done."

Serah's eyes narrowed and Lightning saw her gaze zero in on the bandages peeking out from Hope's collar. She wondered seriously if her sister really did have mind-reading powers. Serah turned her attention back to Lightning and in a low, almost threatening voice, said, "You are going to tell me the _whole_ story. If you try to spare even a single detail, you _know_ I'll know, and I'm going to be _very cross_."

Lightning fought to suppress a smile as her sister's protective nature surfaced with Farron-brand fury. She'd long learned her lesson about trying to keep secrets from Serah.

Beside them, she swore she heard Noel mutter, "Meanie Miss Farron," under his breath.

Lightning ignored the curious remark in favor of taking her sister's hand and tugging her in the direction of Command. "Come on, then," she relented. "I think you'll want to be sitting down for this story."

o0o

One person Lightning didn't see much of in the weeks following their return home was Hope. With the help of the Farseers' loaned airship, it seemed the Academy was finally able to break through their fuel problem and he and Sazh had thrown themselves into the project with gusto. Hope had said no more on the topic of their regrets and Lightning had made no attempts herself to revisit it. It seemed to her that he was content to let the subject lie and she supposed that their regrets were really their own business anyhow. The two of them settled back into their normal routines, occasionally talking in the evenings but otherwise going about their separate lives just as they had before the mission.

At first, Lightning welcomed this return to normalcy. She was back where she belonged with her sister and the comfortable familiarity of her daily patrols. It was precisely what she'd wanted the whole time they'd been away. But as the days turned to a week, and then two, a feeling of almost restlessness began to creep up on her like a master tonberry. She found herself missing Hope—missing travelling together and the easy companionship they'd shared. Her routine patrols felt long and immeasurably boring and occasionally she resorted to inviting Snow along just to take the edge off the loneliness.

Snow, of course, didn't fail to notice the unusualness of these invitations, and finally, after the third time of being asked to join her, he decided to speak up.

"Sis, is everything okay?" he asked somewhat cautiously. "I mean, I'm not complaining about getting to spend time together, but you don't normally go out of your way to invite me on patrols unless you think you're gonna need the extra manpower. Do you need to talk about something?"

Lightning glanced up at him from where she'd been sitting on a rock, eyeing a pack of gorgonopsids that appeared to be hungrily sizing up a young behemoth. There had been no new snowfall for the past week and the increase in temperature had beckoned a few of Pulse's monsters out of their dens. This meant extra work for Lightning and the other GC scouts out on patrol. She shook her head. "Not particularly," she answered evenly. "Not everything I do has some deeper meaning attached to it. I just thought it would be helpful to have an extra pair of fists on hand given the changing seasons." She gestured demonstratively to the gorgonopsids who had apparently decided to take the gamble and now were circling the behemoth predatorily.

Snow scratched his head in a manner that told her he didn't entirely believe her but he let the matter drop with a simple, "If you say so."

The two lapsed into silence again, both choosing to focus their attention on the situation with the behemoth. The silence persisted for several minutes before Snow finally broke it again with a new topic.

"So, it sounds like R&D managed to get some velocycles working. Sazh said they were going to move on to the cruisers today."

Lightning grunted in acknowledgement. "They've been hard at work since the moment we got back. Hope mentioned that they want to get to the point where they can run aerial expeditions by mid spring."

Snow hummed as he considered this. His blue eyes moved from the gorgonopsids to sweep out over the vast expanse of the Archylte Steppe. "That'll be a pretty huge asset for us. I feel like the progression of civilization is about to see a boom."

"Yeah, no kidding," she agreed. "Command has been in a tizzy about it. They're already talking about putting together a 'survey fleet' to send on extended missions."

Snow lifted a brow and turned back to look at her. "Oh? Sounds fun. You thinking about joining?"

Lightning smiled a wry little smile at his inquiry and shook her head. "No. I have enough going on here."

Her blond brother-in-law-to-be regarded her with a look of skepticism. "You sure? You know Serah wouldn't hold it against you if you decided to go. We all think popping off monsters outside of town is a waste of your abilities."

Lightning exhaled a short chuckle. "And what? You think popping off monsters hundreds of miles away is a better use of them? If all else is the same, I'd rather do it here where I can go home to Serah every day."

Snow shrugged. "Suit yourself. But I still think getting out would be good for you."

The two lapsed into silence again following this remark and Lightning turned her attention to the sky where a pack of wyverns drifted overhead enjoying the nice weather. She had no doubt that very soon they would see a boost in their numbers as the new season ushered in a fresh generation of juveniles. It would be her job to see to it those juveniles didn't develop a taste for human flesh. As she'd told Snow, she had plenty to do here.

She guessed about five minutes had passed before her companion spoke again. "Hey," he said, sounding somewhat confused this time. It was this that caused her to shift her gaze to look at him. "Do you smell smoke?"

Lightning frowned at the unexpected remark. Smoke? She sniffed the air experimentally and sure enough, there was the faintest odor of something burning on the wind. Snow must have been able to tell from her face that she smelled it too because he said, "It's still a little cold to be having a barbecue. Where do you suppose it's coming from?"

Lightning sniffed again and her frown deepened. It didn't smell like barbecue fire. There was an acrid, unpleasant stench to it that smelled like burning plastic and petroleum. She and Snow swiveled their heads around, both looking for the source, and that's when she saw a plume of black smoke rising from a familiar locale near the edge of the settlement.

Snow stood up and his face contorted in worry. "Hey, hey, that's the direction of the hangar, isn't it?" he gave voice to the same conclusion she herself had simultaneously arrived at.

At once, a feeling of alarm rose inside Lightning. She plucked her radio from her belt and punched the code to connect her with central command. "This is Sergeant Farron to command. Come in, command."

All that answered her was static.

She tried again. "Sergeant Farron to command. Please respond."

Again, static was her only reply.

She turned to Snow. "I have a bad feeling about this. We're close by, so I'm going to go check it out. You wait here."

Snow nodded in understanding. With that, Lightning took off in a run in the direction of the hangar.

oOo

What greeted her when she arrived at her destination was unmitigated chaos. Just as she'd seen from the plains, there was a large cloud of black smoke rising from the hangar and men and women were shouting and running inside to help put out what looked to be a disastrous fire. Her feeling of dread only increased when she didn't see Sazh or Hope in the crowd. Not wasting any time, she grabbed the closest person, a young man wearing a grease-stained pair of coveralls, and asked, "What happened?"

The man tore his attention from the scene at her question. "A fuel tank caught fire during an engine test," he informed her distractedly. "We're currently trying to get the blaze under control before it spreads to the other ships."

"What about the mechanics involved in the test?" Lightning pressed urgently. "Was anyone injured?"

The man shook his head. "I don't know. The situation is still unclear. Right now, we're more concerned about the fire. If it reaches the other ships, the hangar and everyone inside it are toast."

Lightning cursed and left the man behind to run to the entrance of the smoking building. Beyond the gaping portal, she could just make out the burning aircraft through a thick cloud of smoke and the chaos of mechanics and soldiers alike desperately attempting to smother the flames. She hovered just inside the entrance, scanning the scene for a familiar head of silver hair, and that's when she realized that the light belonging to the blazing ship appeared to be moving closer.

Without warning, Sazh's form materialized from out of the smoke. His arms were waving frantically over his head and he seemed to be shooing people to the sides. His voice rose up over the din. "Everyone back! Clear a path! Move it, people!"

Lightning wanted to run to him and ask just what in the hell was going on but the answer soon became obvious. She was forced to move to the side with the rest of the crowd when the form of the flaming ship appeared just like Sazh from the haze, its wheels taking it on a direct path toward the hangar's exit. She watched it move along in astonishment. Could it be that someone was actually piloting that blazing metal deathtrap?

As the cruiser approached, Lightning pushed through the crowd to Sazh's side. The pilot had stopped directing the help and now had a hand to his ear. Now that she was close, she could see that he was wearing a wireless headset. His eyes were fixed on the aircraft. "You're clear, Hope! Take her outta here!" he spoke through the microphone and Lightning turned her face back to the ship so fast she nearly gave herself whiplash. Her eyes shot wide open.

In response to Sazh's instruction, the aircraft accelerated. Its wheels took it past where Lightning and Sazh were standing and Lightning could feel the blistering heat radiating off it as it passed. The air shimmered like a furnace over its wings and she was forced to turn her face away.

The ship continued steadily along its path and the whole hangar seemed to hold its breath as it came up to the exit. Beside her, she heard Sazh say, "You're nearly there. The trucks are in position. Prepare to exit on my signal," but Lightning wasn't paying attention to him. Her gaze was focused on the blazing cruiser that her best friend was apparently piloting.

The cruiser cleared the exit and there was a collective sigh of relief from the crowd. Immediately, people with fire extinguishers got to work clearing away the flames left in its wake but Lightning didn't move her gaze from the aircraft. The cruiser continued to move until it was roughly fifteen meters out from the hangar and then Sazh's voice came again. "All clear! Get out of there, Hope!"

As Lightning watched, the cruiser slowed to a stop and the pilot's hatch popped open. She continued to look on in a mixture of horror and fascination as a gloved hand appeared first and then Hope was hopping from the burning aircraft onto the tarmac. His upper half was bare save for a thin black tank top and his skin was flushed and slick with sweat. He held what looked like the wadded remains of his former shirt to his mouth and nose. He wobbled a bit on impact but recovered quickly and hurriedly cheesed it away from the condemned ship. The moment he was safely out of range, two large trucks equipped with water tanks moved in and began hosing down the wreckage.

Lightning didn't stick around to watch. Her legs began moving, taking her across the tarmac to where Hope had slowed to a brisk walk. His eyes were rooted to the steaming remains of the cruiser as he moved in an arc back in the direction of the hangar. Vaguely, she was aware of Sazh on her heels as she rushed toward him, relief at his safety being quickly replaced by fury.

Hope saw them and waved. His pace sped to a jog and he met them partway, his flushed face breaking into a grin. His hair was matted to his forehead and cheeks in wet clumps. "Hey, Light! You're back early."

Lightning didn't get a chance to respond. Sazh drew Hope's attention away from her when he handed the boy a grease-stained rag and said, "Looks like you made it out in one piece. You had me worried there."

Hope passed the rag over his face and neck, wiping away the sweat before speaking again. "I told you it would be fine. But I'll tell you what, I have a pretty good idea what the inside of a volcano feels like now."

Sazh snorted. The sound was halfway between amused and exasperated. "How do you feel? You should probably get checked at medical just in case."

Hope slung the rag around his neck and shook his head. "I'm fine. I just need some water."

Sazh sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Kids," he grumbled under his breath. Out loud, he said, "Just do this old man a favor and get checked out, alright? You know I never would've let you do something like that under normal circumstances. l'Cie magic aside, there were lots of ways that could've gone really wrong. Even though you managed to pull it off without the ship blowing up on you, you still subjected yourself to toxic fumes, smoke inhalation, and extreme temperatures."

Hope looked like he wanted to protest again but Lightning nipped that in the bud by grabbing his arm and in a firm voice saying, "The matter isn't open to debate. You're going _now_."

Hope could only sigh in resignation as she forcibly escorted him away from the scene. As they left, Sazh called after her, "I'll leave him to you, Soldier Girl!"

Hope obviously sensed the ire rolling off her in waves because as they walked he said, "You seem upset, Light."

Lightning swallowed the urge to snap at him and instead took a deep breath and calmly replied, "Did you expect me to be happy about you pulling a dangerous stunt like that?" She pursed her lips and directed her gaze at his eyes so that he could see just how displeased she was. "Don't you think you've given me enough scares lately? Are you trying to die?"

Hope winced. Meekly, he smiled and held up his free hand in a gesture of appeasement. "It was fine, Light. Really. I had it under control. If there's one thing I'm confident in it's my synergy. And it's not like I had much choice. Losing those ships would have set us back years."

Lightning cocked a brow and tightened her grip on his arm. "Hope, I believe you have a decent awareness of what you are and aren't capable of, but next time, consider thinking about how much we'd be set back by losing _you_. I can recover from the loss of our airships. You would be a little more difficult."

Hope's eyes widened and his cheeks dusted pink. He shook his head and when he looked at her again his face was normal. "You're right, Light. I'm sorry. The next time I get the urge to jump into a burning airship, I'll curb it."

Lightning smiled wryly and hip-checked him, causing him to stumble slightly. "That mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble one of these days."

Hope caught his footing and grinned up at her. "I don't think so. I've also got a decent awareness of what will and won't get me into trouble."

o0o

Hope's checkup was over quickly. Aside from slightly pink eyes and a parched throat, he was fighting fit. To his credit, Hope tried to not look smug about this, though Lightning knew he was saying 'told you so' in his head.

Lightning radioed Sazh to inform him that she would escort Hope back to the house. She figured they'd both had enough excitement for one day. Hope didn't protest. They stopped by their local grocer to pick up ingredients for the night's meal and when they reached the house, Lightning got to work putting the perishables in the fridge while Hope made a beeline for the stairs to take a shower. The clock over the stove told her Serah would be returning from work in about an hour. Lightning pulled out her radio for the second time to give Snow a call to let him know what had happened and that she wouldn't be returning.

About twenty minutes later, Hope returned freshly showered and dressed in a snug, olive-colored sweater. The weather might've been getting warmer but it would still be some weeks before they could shuck their winter layers. Out of habit, Lightning scooted over to make room beside her on the couch. Hope took the invitation and sat, moving one of the decorative pillows to his lap to free up room for his feet.

The moment he was beside her, a feeling that could only be described as _rightness_ washed over Lightning. This was what she'd been missing since their return. Hope's presence at her side filled a void akin to a jigsaw puzzle regaining a clump of pieces that had been knocked off. She let out a silent breath and settled deeper into the cushions.

Hope, reading her mind as usual, broke the silence by saying, "It's been a while since we talked last, hasn't it? How've patrols been?"

"Same as ever," she answered easily. "The Guardian Corps' ranks have been growing lately so my shifts have gotten shorter."

Hope nodded. "I'd noticed you've been staying out late less often."

Lightning made a noise of affirmation in her throat. She had yet to decide whether she was happy having shorter shifts or if she preferred the longer hours because they gave her something to do. She didn't exactly enjoy roaming the wilds for hours on end in the cold but she didn't like being idle either. "How about you?" she asked. "Is the Academy still treating you well?"

Hope nodded again. "I've been busy nearly out of my mind but it's been good. Today was a bit of a hitch, but the loss of one ship shouldn't affect our timeframe. We're still expecting the cruisers to be operational by mid-spring."

Lightning gave him a small half-smile. "Just in time for Serah and Snow's wedding."

Hope returned her smile. "We could send them somewhere for their honeymoon."

Lightning scoffed at that. "Like where? Taejin's Tower? I suppose they'd have privacy, at least."

Hope laughed. "Aside from the guardians, that is. But seriously, Gran Pulse is a huge place. There are probably whole continents that have yet to be discovered. I can keep an eye out for a good location and report back."

Lightning straightened and lifted a brow at her couch companion. "Report back? You sound like you're going to be the one doing the discovering."

Hope's eyes found hers and his expression shifted somewhat. He looked slightly guilty. "Um, yeah. About that. Actually, I will be. I've given the matter a lot of thought and I've decided that I'm going to join the survey effort. I want to search for Fang and Vanille. Once the cruisers are operational, I plan to take one and start my hunt—do some exploring and cataloguing while I'm at it. We'll need people to push the frontiers and I'm getting tired of whiling away my time here in New Eden."

Lightning felt her heart give an involuntary squeeze at this news. Hope wanted to join the expedition team? He'd never made any indication that that was his plan. "Hope, you know you'll be looking at a pretty long trip if you do that. Finding Fang and Vanille will take months at the least, possibly upwards of a year or more. They could be anywhere and we have no clues to follow."

Hope nodded. "I know. But this is something I have to do. I've done a fair amount of soul-searching over the past couple weeks and I've decided that what I would regret the most is not being together with everyone in the time that we have here. It's just not the same without them, you know? To me, you all—Snow, Serah, Sazh, Dajh, you, and Fang and Vanille, too—you're my family. Even if we have to be apart for a while, as long as we can all be together again someday, I'll be satisfied."

Lightning's heart squeezed again. He was talking about going off by himself—leaving them all behind to go on a journey to ensure that he left behind no regrets. She understood that this was something he thought he needed, but a large part of her was finding his decision very difficult to accept. "You're sure?" she questioned, holding onto one small spider's thread of hope that she could convince him to change his mind. "I can't persuade you to stay?"

Hope's eyebrows rose. "Stay? I didn't expect that from you. I thought you'd say something more like, 'Great. Have fun.'"

Lightning frowned slightly. "Do I really come off that cold?"

"I wouldn't call it cold," he said with a small smile. "You're supportive in your own way."

In her own way, huh.

"But yeah. I'm sure." He closed his eyes and exhaled a short chuckle. "I need to leave. I feel like I'll fall into old patterns if I stay here. Whatever I was in that other future, I want to be different this time around. I want to strike out on my own—spend some time living for myself. I don't think the other me ever got to do that, so I'm going to do some living for him, too." He stopped and chuckled. "That sounds kind of self-centered, huh?"

Lightning frowned and shook her head. "No. If you feel like that's what you need to be happy, then I think it's the right course of action for you. But Hope," she lifted a hand to grip his shoulder, prompting him to look at her, "promise me that this is really what you want and not just a way to avoid making a difficult decision."

Hope cocked his head and regarded her with curious green eyes. "Such as?" he prompted.

Lightning gave him a look to let him know that she wasn't fooled by his attempt to play dumb. He knew exactly what she was referring to. "Such as talking to that girl you like?" she reminded him anyway. "I hope you're not running away to avoid facing that regret. You're many things, Hope, but I never took you for a coward."

Hope's lips formed a guilty little smile that confirmed to Lightning that she'd hit the nail on the head. "It's not cowardice. It's being realistic. I already told you that she won't want to hear my feelings."

Lightning removed her hand from Hope's shoulder and crossed her arms over her chest. "So, that _is_ what this is about. I'll admit that I never thought you'd be the type to run from a girl." She tried to keep the annoyance out of her tone as she said this, but there was a note of underlying contempt that bled like wyvern venom into her own ears. She could feel it again—that same sour, unpleasant pang she'd felt when they'd broached this subject the first time. It was making her tone harsher—more accusing—than she meant it to be. "Didn't you say before that you don't even know for sure that she doesn't feel the same way? Why don't you try actually telling her before you run away? Don't quit at the starting line."

As uncomfortable as she was with the idea of Hope liking someone, if telling this girl his feelings caused him to choose to stay, she could live with it.

Probably.

She drummed the fingers of her left hand on the inside of her right elbow and shook her head. "Just how much trouble could it possibly make for her?" she continued. "Is she dating someone else? If so, one or both of you may have to make an unpleasant decision, but that's just how these things go. Why don't you let her decide for herself how much of a problem your feelings will be for her?"

It occurred to Lightning that she might be acting a little too blasé about this. This girl was one of Hope's regrets, after all. Whoever she was, she wasn't merely a passing fancy. She would be someone irreplaceably important to him. Lightning could appreciate the fear of ruining a relationship like that with unrequited romantic feelings.

Hope exhaled a long sigh and shook his head. It was obvious from the gesture that none of what she'd said was a new avenue of consideration for him. He was silent for a moment, then he said, "Alright, Light. Let me ask you this. This is just an example, but say the person I liked was Lieutenant Rocher. Or rather, imagine Lieutenant Rocher had a close relationship with someone who is somewhat like me. Do you think she would want that person to tell her his feelings? Wouldn't that put her in an awkward position?"

Lightning considered this. Honestly, the thought of Hope and the perpetually bored leader of the massif outpost recon squad of all people having anything resembling a relationship like that was so inconceivable that it was hard to take it seriously even hypothetically. "I'm uncertain which issue in particular you're trying to draw attention to here. The rank gap? The age gap? The lack of anything at all in common…?"

"Okay," Hope conceded. "Maybe Rocher is a bad example. Then how about this?" He swiveled his body so that he was facing her and laid his elbow atop the back of the couch so he could rest his cheek in his palm. "How would _you_ feel, Light, if I told you I was in love with you?"

At first, Lightning thought he was joking. She couldn't conceive of any other reason why he would toss out her name as his example. But the way his eyes watched her steadily and seriously caused that notion to die very quickly. She knew that expression. It was one she'd seen many times in the past few months. He was challenging her again—patiently waiting for her to either accept or decline.

Did he…could it be that he actually meant it?

Was this still hypothetical? Or was he laying himself bare whilst giving her the opportunity to reject him in a way that would allow them to carry on as if he'd said nothing? Not even once had she considered that _she_ might be the one he harbored feelings for. She couldn't fathom why he'd be interested in her of all people when there were many better-grounded and more emotionally available women out there for him to choose from.

"Hope, I…you…" she said intelligently. What was the right response? What was the correct thing to do? On the one hand, if he was speaking seriously, she very much had reservations about accepting the feelings of a teenager. This was the boy she'd taken under her wing when he was lost and scared and taught to survive. But at the same time, he wasn't that boy anymore. He wasn't a boy at all. She was finally accepting that the person sitting beside her was an adult who understood how the world worked as well as the possible—no, probable—repercussions of asking for a romantic relationship with her.

She must've taken too long to give an answer, because Hope closed his eyes and said, "Now you see the problem. That's exactly the position I don't want to put her in."

Lightning swallowed and found her throat dry. She knew she should be feeling relieved that he'd dropped the matter so easily, but her rebellious mouth opened without accepting the input of her brain and she said, "Hold on."

Hope had been motioning to leave the couch but he stopped at her command and looked back at her. Lightning's heart sped up and her brain tried to send distress signals to her mouth, but they too were ignored. She recognized that this moment was a turning point and her instincts were screaming not to let it pass. "How serious were you being just now?"

Hope scooted his rear backward so that he was sitting properly again and studied her with some amazement. He was obviously as surprised as her by her appeal. She could see the glimmer of an impossible hope light his eyes.

That in itself was confirmation of her suspicions.

Hope must have realized that he'd given the game away because he gave her a little half-smile and said, "If there's an answer you'd prefer you better tell me now or you might not like what you hear."

Lightning almost rolled her eyes at him but she curbed the impulse and with her heart still somewhere in her throat said, "I want the honest answer."

Hope inhaled through his nose and turned his face to the ceiling. His shoulders relaxed as he exhaled through his mouth. "Right. Okay." He turned his head so that their eyes connected and as frank as she'd ever heard him, said, "I love you."

Lightning had thought she was ready, but Hope's answer still caused her chest to tighten and embarrassment to heat her cheeks. Hearing those words from him shouldn't make her happy, she knew that, but her heart had other ideas. Many emotions crawled with spider hands up through her but relief was somewhere at the forefront. As much as she'd tried to deny it, the thought that there'd been another person—another woman—out there who owned a piece of Hope's heart hadn't sat well with her one bit. She'd tried to tell herself it was because she didn't want to lose the closeness she and Hope shared, but that had never been the truth and underneath her denial she'd known very well that she didn't want to share him. She didn't want him to ever say those words to any other woman.

Just to be perfectly sure of his feelings, she tentatively asked, "Love how?"

Hope didn't evert his gaze from hers as he answered. "Romantically. Sexually." He lifted his right hand to touch her neck and then her jaw with delicate fingers and he leaned toward her until she could count the individual greens and blues in his irises. "Wholly. Indescribably."

Lightning's heart thumped in her chest as their breath mixed. She waited for Hope to close the gap. She wanted him to. She didn't care anymore if he was seven years her junior and a teenager. If he didn't do it, she was going to. Damn every consequence.

Hope didn't move. He was giving her one last chance to back out before they crossed a line that couldn't be uncrossed.

 _To hell with lines,_ Lightning thought and dipped her head to place her mouth on his. A shiver ran through her at the contact. Hope's lips were soft and warm and his skin was smooth and unblemished where her hands rose to cup his cheeks. Hope sighed through his nose and moved his hand to the back of her head to pull her harder against him. He dragged his lips across hers to whisper in her ear. "Serah's at the door."

All at once, Lightning's eyes flew open and she ripped away from him. Not a second later, the latch clicked and the door swung open, revealing her sister with an armful of papers.

"Oh! Lightning. I heard you'd be home. Snow called me just a bit ago and…" She trailed off as her eyes swept over her sister, taking in the flush of her cheeks and her proximity to Hope on the couch. Lightning watched her eyes narrow as she processed the (incriminating) implications of these details.

Deliberately, Serah closed the door behind her. The latch gave a soft click and she took a step away from the door to close the distance between herself and her two housemates. Her eyes didn't move from the scene before her. "Lightning," she addressed her sister again, this time much more seriously. "What's going on?"

Lightning inwardly cursed. Ever the perceptive one, Serah had, of course, put two and two together fast as Lightning's namesake. How she was going to explain _this_ to her sister, she didn't know. It was one thing to be caught in a compromising position with a member of the opposite sex. It was a complete other thing to be caught in a compromising position with the minor who lived in your house. Serah had been informed, of course, of their being sent back in time and therefore knew that Hope's mind was that of an adult, but that didn't make this any less awkward.

Smooth as the head of a moogle, Hope came to both their rescue. He peeked out around Lightning and with a surprising and honestly alarming amount of nonchalance, said, "Oh, hey, Serah. Light was just lecturing me about my reckless tendencies. I assume Snow told you about the accident in the hangar?"

Serah looked past her sister to Hope's bright, innocent face, and Lightning saw her brow scrunch up as she contrasted his fib with her previous conclusion. Suddenly, she didn't look so certain.

It was disconcerting, Lightning thought, how easily the lie had rolled off Hope's tongue. There was nothing at all about his expression or tone to suggest he was being less than perfectly genuine. A frown pulled at the corners of her mouth. Her memories told her that Hope had never been such a convincing actor, and yet, something about this behavior struck her as being exceedingly familiar. Was this a part of him that had carried over from their lost future?

Serah's face relaxed and Lightning could almost see the wave of relief that washed over her. "Yes, he did," she confirmed, finally stepping properly into the room. "Apparently you all had quite the scare. I saw the smoke from the school."

Hope nodded. "We had a little engine trouble, but not to worry, we got it sorted out."

Lightning's own expression soured and she gave the boy a withering look. "Don't leave out the most important parts. I'm still not happy about the way you chose to handle the situation."

Serah apparently didn't need an explanation as to what this choice entailed, because she gave the teenager a disapproving look. "Hope…" Whether Snow had told her the specifics or not, she knew Hope well enough to infer that whatever action he'd taken had most likely been stupid and dangerous.

"By the way, Light," Hope said, ignoring Serah's admonishing use of his name. "Didn't you say we had some burn cream upstairs?" He scooted to the edge of the couch and stood before looking back at her. "Mind helping me find it?"

Lightning's eyes narrowed at the lie but she played along. Standing as well, she motioned for him to follow. "Sure. I'm pretty sure I put it in my room."

The two made for the stairs, leaving Serah to look worriedly after them.

The moment they cleared the top of the steps and were safely out of sight, Hope wasted no time grabbing Lightning's face in his palms and pulling her into a searing kiss. At once, the fire within her that had dimmed with Serah's arrival flared right back up. Hope stroked her cheeks with his thumbs and angled his mouth against hers as he gently maneuvered her backwards through the doorway to her room.

His kiss tasted of longing and urgency and it caused her heart to stutter in her chest. "Hope," she broke away to address him as he deftly pulled the door closed behind them. Her voice sounded breathy in her own ears. "Are you sure about this?"

Hope looked back at her with eyes free from doubt. "Light, there isn't a force in this world or any other world that could change the way I feel about you."

That was all she got out of him before he resumed his assault on her mouth. He kissed her long and desperately and while she was distracted by the movements of his lips his hands left her face to wrap around her waist and pull her close. The next one to break the contact of their mouths was him, and he did it only to set his forehead on hers while he looked her seriously in the eye. "God, I've wanted to kiss you like this for so long that finally getting to do it almost physically hurts."

Lightning managed to give him a disapproving look through the haze of hormones clouding her brain. "No gods," she reminded him breathlessly. "And don't get too comfortable. You and I aren't going to be in a position to do this very often."

Hope answered her with a sigh that seemed to come from his whole body. He knew as well as she did that this…relationship, or whatever it was that existed between them, was going to have to be kept very private. She was reluctant to even tell their friends, as the two of them entering into a relationship so soon after returning from the Farseers' village meant revealing that she'd had feelings for Hope even before they'd learned of their…unique situation.

Their friends would try their best to be understanding, she knew, but it was still going to be incredibly awkward.

Hope's arms around her tightened and he moved his face to her shoulder. She could feel his breath as he inhaled and exhaled deeply. They stayed like that for a long moment, just basking in being close to one another, then Hope pulled back, looked her in the eye, and said, "Light, come with me."

She blinked back at him, confused. "Come with you where?"

"To find Fang and Vanille."

Lightning studied Hope's face with surprise. He still wanted to go? She'd thought he'd put that silly notion behind him when she accepted his feelings.

Apparently not.

Seeing her uncertainty, he elaborated. "Think about it. It would just be the two of us. We wouldn't have to hide anything."

She shook her head. "But Serah—" She started to protest but Hope leaned forward and stopped her with a kiss.

When he pulled back, his green eyes were stern. "Serah is fine, Light. And the people living here are fine, too." He released his hold on her waist and instead grasped her shoulders in a firm but gentle grip. "This second chance is for _you_. I won't force you to come with me. Hell, I'll even stay if that's what you'd prefer. But whatever you choose, make the decision for yourself—not for Serah or for me or anyone else—for _you_."

It was funny. Just over an hour ago, Snow had encouraged her to do exactly the same thing and she had soundly shot the idea down. She'd told him she had enough to do here in New Eden. Now, Hope was telling her the same thing, and yet, she was finding it difficult to give him that same definite _no_. The excuse that had seemed so sound to her suddenly felt very flimsy.

What was keeping her here, really? For whose sake would she be staying?

The fact that she even needed to ask that question was an answer in and of itself. Hope was right, she shouldn't be making decisions around anyone else. If she wanted to leave this world with no regrets, she needed to take the reins of her own life.

So, what did she want to do?

The answer to that was obvious.

Furrowing her eyebrows into a stern line, she placed her hands over Hope's and said, "We won't leave until after the wedding."

Immediately, Hope's eyes brightened and a wide smile stretched across his face. His green eyes sparkled like a kid in Nautilus. "Light..."

"And I don't want you pulling any more stunts like this afternoon. You're only allowed to put yourself in danger where I can see you."

Hope laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling handsomely. "Fine, fine."

"And one more thing," she said seriously. She placed her hands on his cheeks and leaned forward to look him dead in the eye. "I don't know why you picked me or what I did in the future to become a regret for you, but you should know that I've always cared for you." She allowed her expression to soften and she raised her arms to wrap them around his shoulders. "You don't ever have to doubt my feelings."

Hope returned the embrace and she felt him smile against her neck. "Thank you, Lightning."

If she were less of a coward, she'd use the L-word. There was no doubt in her mind that she loved him. But she was new at this whole romance thing and incurably shy and he was just going to have to wait until she was ready to say it. There would be plenty of time for that later when they were blazing trails together.

Until then, she was happy being just like this.

oOo

 _Two Months Later_

"Alright, you two. You're all clear for takeoff."

Sazh's face grinned at them from the holo-screen positioned over the cruiser's flight deck. All around him, their friends and family had gathered to watch the two as they made their final preparations to leave.

Once they took off, it would be three months before they saw their friends again.

"Roger that," Hope responded as he flipped some switches on the deck and checked the engine diagnostics. In the copilot seat, Lightning reclined with her legs crossed, watching her boyfriend work. He was the one in charge of all the mechanical and sciency stuff on this mission. She was just along to kill monsters.

"You remembered the care-package I made for you, right?" her sister's voice sounded from the speakers. Lightning looked up at her and nodded. "Of course."

"Make sure you check in periodically with the other teams," Rygdea was the next to chime in. "The only way we're going to get news back from you is through the grapevine."

"And Hope," Bartholomew added when Rygdea was finished, "Listen to Lightning. Don't go making any trouble for her."

Hope snorted at that but he was able to mostly hide the sound behind a conveniently-timed cough.

Lightning fought the urge to smack him.

"Yeah, don't do anything I wouldn't do," it was Snow's turn to speak and he gave them a jolly wink through the screen.

Hope didn't look up from what he was doing but said, "I'm going to ignore that advice on account of it being extremely poor."

The faces in the screen laughed and Snow just shrugged and said, "Hey, at least it's free."

When all the preparations on their end were complete, Hope hit the ignition button for the main engine and looked up at the screen as the craft roared to life. It was time

"We'll be sure to take care," he assured their friends, giving the group a smile. "Nothing's going to happen to us."

Lightning backed Hope's claim up with a self-assured nod. "I'll see to it."

The craft began to move. This was it.

Three months. Maybe by the time they got back, she'd be ready to divulge the true nature of her and Hope's relationship. Maybe.

"Any last words before takeoff?" Sazh prompted as the cruiser rolled toward the designated launchpad.

"Actually, there was something I was meaning to show you," Hope answered. His eyes were trained on the tarmac now so he gestured to Lightning with his right hand. "Hey, Light, would you look in the console box for me?"

Confused and a little curious about what this mystery thing was that Hope wanted to show him, Lightning leaned over the side of her seat to examine the locale in question. She popped open the lid but frowned when she didn't see anything inside. She was about to question Hope when an arm suddenly latched around her and then a pair of soft lips were being pressed against her own.

There was a protracted moment of silence from both Lightning and the cluster of faces on the holo-screen.

Then all hell broke loose.

Immediately, a barrage of excited exclamations came through the speakers as all their friends attempted to chime in at once.

"Hope!"

"Sis!"

"What in the—!"

"Hope, what are you doing?!"

"Get it, buddy!"

Hope grinned against her lips and used his unoccupied hand to flip the receiver switch on the control deck. Instantly, the screen and voices cut off, leaving the cockpit in silence. Smug as the chocobo who got the greens, Hope released Lightning and returned to preparing the cruiser for takeoff.

"Hope!" she chastised him with a fierce look. "What the hell was that?"

He shot her a grin. "We were going to have to tell them eventually," he reasoned. "And now they'll have three whole months to come to terms with it."

Lightning huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "You should've consulted me first. I would've chosen to handle it a little more tactfully."

Hope just shrugged, his way of saying 'what's done is done'.

He was right, of course. And she supposed it was better just to rip the band-aid off than to faff about attempting to reveal their relationship delicately.

She guessed she could forgive him.

The engine's roar crescendoed and then they were off, flying high into the clouds.

Off to a new adventure. Off to find their lost friends.

Lightning sat back in her seat and smiled. No regrets. This time, they were playing for keeps.

oO0Oo

* * *

WELL, WELL, WELL. At long last, we've reached the end. What a mammoth of a chapter, good googly goggles. I'm sorry if the finish seemed a little anticlimactic for the length of the story, but when I originally conceived this story, I intended for it to be MUCH shorter. My plan was actually to keep the whole thing to about 7,000 words and tell a very simple story about Hope and Lightning after the Fall—pretending that XIII-2 and LR never existed—but, well, you can see that didn't play out quite to expectation.

This story may have changed a lot from what I originally intended, but I hope it was enjoyable all the same. Again, I'm terribly sorry for taking nearly a year just to post the last chapter. I've been wracked with guilt this whole time. It feels awesome to finally mark this beast as complete.

To those of you who followed me through this whole thing, you have my sincerest gratitude. Live long and prosper, my dudes, and may Hope be with you.


End file.
